As of June 26th, 2022, there are 48 volcanoes actively erupting on the planet.
One of these erupting volcanoes is Ebeko in the nation of Russia, which began a new explosive
eruption sequence on June 11th of 2022.
Like previous eruptions, its new eruption consisted solely of intermittent phreatic
explosions which sent plumes of ash up to a height of 2.5 kilometers or 8,200 feet.
Thus, its alert level was raised to yellow on June 17th.
With this being said, here are this week's major volcano related news stories.
In Vanuatu, the highly scenic Ambrym volcano is showing significant signs of unrest meaning
that a new eruption could occur with little or no warning.
Meanwhile, on the same island which produced the latest eruption from Ebeko, an additional
separate volcano produced another new eruption, sending a plume of ash several thousand meters
into the atmosphere.
And, in California, a series of earthquakes occurred underneath the highly dangerous Long
Valley caldera, causing some people to think it was volcanic in origin.
For context, the Long Valley volcano is one of 3 active supervolcanoes in the United States,
with the other two being the Valles Caldera in New Mexico and Yellowstone in Wyoming.
Long Valley produced a catastrophic eruption 767,000 years ago which was 600 times larger
than the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens, ejecting 144 cubic miles of volcanic rock.
This formed a 20 mile long and 11 mile wide depression in the ground called a caldera.
Since then, the area has been a figurative hotspot for recent volcanic activity within
the state as three separate volcanic chains were constructed along its western edge.
This chain stretches from south of Mammoth Mountain to Mono Lake, and last produced a
confirmed eruption in 1790.
However, the ongoing earthquake swarm is not centered adjacent to those 3 volcanoes but
rather within the Long Valley Caldera itself, which has not erupted for 16,000 years.
This specific spot has produced numerous earthquakes in part due to a shallow intrusion of magma
which began in 1979, resulting in the volcano's alert level being temporarily raised to yellow
in 1982, although this did not result in an eruption.
However, since then the caldera has continued to be uplifted by several centimeters a year,
resulting in relatively frequent low magnitude earthquake swarms.
Although the latest series of more than 400 earthquakes which began on June 17th might
appear to be magmatic, they are in fact completely tectonic.
These ongoing quakes are caused by the slow movement of the large Hilton Creek Fault Zone,
which produced 4 magnitude 6 earthquakes in 1980.
The largest quake in the ongoing swarm occurred on June 20th, and was a meager magnitude 3.0.
In the context of previous earthquake swarms, this ongoing sequence is not truly noteworthy
but represents something which occurs at this volcano several times a year.
Meanwhile in Russia, the Chikurachki produced a new explosive eruption 12 days after the
nearby Ebeko volcano also erupted anew.
Chikurachki is located on the western portion of the island of Paramushir, and is luckily
not close to any population centers.
On June 23rd it produced its first explosive eruption since February 2nd, sending a plume
of ash 4,600 meters or 15,000 feet into the atmosphere.
This plume was near continuous, representing an energetic vulcanian sequence.
The plume subsequently drifted to the southeast, causing minor regional flight disruptions.
Eruptions from Chikurachki tend to be brief, with the vast majority lasting less than 2
weeks.
In the next several days, the eruption is likely to continue at an intermittent rate,
but shouldn't cause any effects to the city of Severo-Kurilsk on the same island other
than a potential light dusting of ash.
In Vanuatu, both the Yasur and Ambae volcanoes are erupting.
Very soon a third volcano, Ambyrm, may join this list.
After a brief eruption from this highly scenic volcano from January 25th to February 2nd,
the volcano became relatively quiet.
Then, beginning in March, a large amount of uplift began occurring due to the movement
of magma underneath the volcano's eastern section of its large caldera which likely
involves around half a cubic kilometer of material.
If Ambrym does erupt again, a large volume flank eruption is a likely scenario near the
epicenter of its uplift which could be either effusive or explosive depending on exactly
where it begins.
However, a new eruption could also occur within Ambrym's two summit craters, or in a worst
case scenario migrate to a series of cracks which formed during a 2018 eruption on the
island's east.
For now, an eruption is not imminent, but scientists are keeping a close eye on this
volcano.
Here is a quick list of every volcano which is currently erupting.
Also, here are some volcanoes showing signs of unrest which are not erupting but could
erupt in the near future.
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