As of January 29th of 2023, there are 47 volcanoes which are erupting across 7 continents.
One of the 9 actively erupting volcanoes within Indonesia is the Ibu volcano, which is located
on the island of Halmahera.
Recent eruptions of Ibu have constructed a viscous lava dome within its summit crater
complex.
This lava dome has in turn been the site of numerous vulcanian eruptions which eject bombs
of lava, ash, and pyroclastic flows in explosive events which are quite loud as shown in this
video clip.
As a result of its hazards, a 2 kilometer exclusion zone is in place around its crater
center which expands to 3.5 kilometers in the direction of its northern crater opening.
With this being said, here are this week's major volcano related news stories.
In Alaska, a volcano which was suspected to be active has now been confirmed as such due
to the discovery of a geologically recent volcanic ash layer on the volcano which definitively
originated from it.
Meanwhile, in Chile, the volcano which produced the largest explosive eruption of the 2010s
decade once again sent ash particles into the air, but this was not due to a new eruption.
And, in Chile, Lascar most likely erupted once again, with its alert level being quickly
raised from green to yellow and then yellow to orange in the last week.
Lascar had previously ended a several year long period of no eruptions occurring when
it unexpectedly erupted on December 10th of 2022.
Although that eruption quickly waned, the level of seismic activity at the volcano remained
above background levels, which occurred alongside persistent thermal signals visible from satellite.
Then, on January 23rd of 2023, persistent thermal signatures returned at the volcano
alongside an increase in long period earthquakes.
Per a direct quote from a U.S. Geological Survey webpage, "These longer-period earthquakes
are not caused by brittle failure, but rather are thought to be caused by fluids moving
through cracks beneath the ground.
These fluids can be hydrothermal (water) or magma".
As a result of these events, its alert level was raised from green to yellow on January
26th.
Later this activity further increased, and an infrared camera detected what appeared
to be the glow from shallow magma on January 28th.
As a result, Lascar's alert level was raised from yellow to orange and a 10 kilometer or
slightly more than 6.2 mile exclusion zone was put in place around Lascar's active vent.
Although an eruption is not guaranteed to occur, one seems quite likely.
If Lascar does erupt, it will likely involve intermittent vulcanian explosions which often
generate pyroclastic flows.`
In Chile, during 2011 the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano produced the largest explosive
eruption of the 2010s decade, ejecting a total of 1 cubic kilometer of volcanic rock in an
eruption which was assigned a volcanic explosivity index of a 5.
Although that fascinating volcano left behind a large obsidian lava flow during that eruption,
it has not erupted since.
Yet, on January 23rd of 2023, a weak cloud of ash rose from the volcano and drifted to
the southeast.
This did not occur due to a new volcanic eruption but rather represented ash resuspension, as
significant loose material still remains on the volcano from the 2011 eruption.
In the Aleutian Island chain, there are the so-called "Islands of 4 Mountains" which despite
the name consist of 6 volcanoes thought to be active in close proximity to one another.
While all 6 volcanoes are thought to have produced Holocene eruptions, only Cleveland
has definitively erupted as several of its eruptions have been witnessed in historical
time.
However, there is now evidence that the Kagamil volcano has also erupted during the Holocene
period as an 8 inch thick white ash layer was discovered right below the eruption deposit
from the 43 BCE caldera forming eruption of the distant Okmok volcano.
Thus, while this volcano has presumably not erupted in a long time, this provides evidence
that it will most likely eventually erupt again.
Here is a quick list of all 47 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 January 28th of 2023.
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