As of April 9th, 2023, there are currently 43 volcanoes which are actively erupting around
the planet.
One of these erupting volcanoes is the famous Fuego volcano in Guatemala whose name justifiably
translates to fire.
This volcano is one of the most active in Central America, and frequently produces vulcanian
to strombolian explosions with associated ash emissions, pyroclastic flows, and thrown
bombs of lava which is likely where the fire in its name likely originated from.
With this being said, here are this week's major volcano related news stories.
In Vanuatu, the Ambae volcano produced a new eruption, which destroyed a recently formed
lake.
Meanwhile, in Chile, the alert level of the Laguna del Maule volcano was raised which
is known to contain more than 100 cubic kilometers of magma in various states when discussing
the combination of its magma chamber and magma reservoir.
And, in Colombia, evacuations are underway around a section of one of the planet's historically
deadliest volcanoes, Nevado del Ruiz.
Despite being close to the equator, this more than 17,000 foot tall volcano which has been
erupting for much of the last decade has a major problem; its summit region is covered
in thick glaciers.
Thus, when a large volcanic eruption occurs, significant amounts of these glaciers can
melt which then along with ash fragments descend the river valleys adjacent to its complex
via what is known as a lahar, which can destroy structures and potentially cause fatalities
as much as 75 kilometers distant from its summit.
In 1985 such a destructive lahar occurred where a 40 meter or 131 foot high lahar obliterated
the town of Amero 47 kilometers distant from the volcano's summit, resulting in 25,000
fatalities.
At the present, there is a danger although it is not guaranteed that another large volcanic
eruption could occur, which could possibly generate another destructive lahar, as a new
batch of magma appears to be intruding into this volcano at a depth of 2 to 4 kilometers.
Thus, along with the volcano's alert level being raised from yellow to orange, the government
subsequently closed Los Nevados National Park until further notice along with evacuating
40 families who live closest to the volcano.
Although the number of daily seismic events has decreased since then, it is still quite
elevated meaning that a large eruption could theoretically occur in the next several days
to weeks at an undetermined time.
As a result, the Colombian government is in the process of evacuating a further 2500 families,
many of which are deemed to live in areas with insufficient communication equipment
meaning that if a large eruption was to occur, these areas might not receive notice in time
so they are being evacuated as a precaution.
In Vanuatu, the Ambae volcano produced a new minor explosive eruption beginning on April
3rd 2023, creating a moderately sized gray ash plume in addition to thermal signatures
visible from satellite, marking its first eruption since the summer of 2022.
For context, Ambae is a shield volcano slightly larger than the Hawaiian island of Lanai which
has two prominent rift zones.
In its center is a large complex caldera with large explosion craters termed maars generated
by explosive eruptions.
Recent eruptive activity has largely occurred in the center of the middle lake which in
recent years has been divided into three smaller lakes by an expanding vent.
Well, due to the latest eruption, the smallest of these has completely evaporated as lava
appears to have flowed into it.
In the next several days to weeks, this eruption is likely to continue at a moderate intensity.
Meanwhile, in Chile, the alert level was raised at the Laguna del Maule volcano which in the
last year has been the site of the 3rd highest rate of volcanic uplift on the planet.
However, do not be too alarmed as this volcano has undergone frequent uplift cycles with
sections of the lake shoreline it is named after being uplifted by as much as 60 meters
or 200 feet in the last 10,000 years.
During this time, Laguna del Maule has produced 6 rhyolite eruptions.
The earthquake swarm which began on March 30 2023 went on to involve more than 2,000
earthquakes but in my opinion seems unlikely to cause an eruption anytime soon as this
volcanic complex has been highly seismically active ever since it began being monitored.
With this being said, there is a 2 kilometer exclusion zone in place around an area where
carbon dioxide is venting onto the surface, so please keep out of this region.
Here is a quick list of all of the world's volcanoes which are currently erupting.
Additionally, here are some volcanoes showing signs of unrest which are not erupting as
of the recording of this video on April 8th of 2023.
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