As of February 6th, 2022, there are 52 volcanoes which are actively erupting.
This list of volcanoes includes Mount Etna in Italy, which has been producing an intermittent
eruption with spectacular lava fountains since September 3rd of 2013.
It also includes Mount Erebus in Antarctica, which is one of the few volcanoes on the planet
to contain an active lava lake.
With this being said, here are a few of this week's major volcano related news stories.
It's been a comparatively busy week in the Cascade Mountain Range, as Mount Saint Helens
is showing minor signs of unrest through a series of ongoing earthquake swarms.
Meanwhile, in Oregon, uplift was detected at the Three Sisters volcano due to a confirmed
and ongoing intrusion of magma at depth.
Also, on the Asian continent, this week was marked by the new eruptions of 4 separate
volcanoes.
One of the volcanoes which produced a new eruption is Krakatoa.
Krakatoa is most famous for its two caldera forming eruptions which occurred in 540 and
then again in 1883.
Each of these eruptions had profound consequences around the globe.
However, the vast majority of Krakatoa's eruptions are far smaller resulting in the expansion
of an island.
One such minor eruption began on February 2nd, which sent a plume of ash to the south.
2,000 kilometers to the east, but also in Indonesia, the island volcano Batu Tara produced
a new strombolian style eruption on January 31st.
To the north in the Philippines, the Taal volcano south of Manila produced a series
of 10 explosions generated by the interaction of shallow magma with water in the crater
lake.
The last of this week's new eruptions occurred in far eastern Russia in the Kurile Island
chain at Chikurachki.
It produced a new vulcanian eruption beginning at noon local time on January 31st.
In the lower 48 US States, it has been 14 years since the last volcanic eruption occurred.
The last volcano to produce an eruption in this region was Mount Saint Helens.
In the Cascade Mountain Range, there are a wide assortment of active volcanoes, but these
have all been unusually quiet as of late.
Then, on January 16th, earthquake activity underneath Mount Saint Helens increased by
500% in a week.
As the days progressed, Mount Saint Helens continued to produce more low intensity earthquakes,
including distinct volcanic earthquake swarms on the 25th and 30th of January, and then
again on February 2nd.
These earthquakes are occurring at between 0.5 and 3.0 miles in depth, and have a magmatic
signature to them, suggesting that they were caused by fluids heated by magma or magma
itself.
However, there is an important reason to note on why this earthquake swarm, although interesting,
is not truly significant.
All of these earthquakes were not detectable by humans and measured between a magnitude
-0.6 and 1.6.
Thus, although the earthquake activity is abnormal, it is not a cause for concern due
to its low intensity.
A volcano which is a bit more concerning is the volcanic complex of Three Sisters in Oregon.
On January 31st, the US Geological Survey issued a special statement regarding this
volcano, as it was showing signs of unrest.
They confirmed that uplift had been detected at a location 3 miles west of the South Sister
Volcano.
The cause of this uplift was the intrusion of a batch of magma at a depth of 4 miles
or 6 kilometers, which is slowly pushing towards the surface.
However, uplift isn't a new phenomena at the three sisters complex.
In fact, uplift has been occurring intermittently at this very location ever since 1995, which
in the 27 years since has resulted in the overlying ground being pushed up a total of
12 inches or 30 centimeters.
While the intrusion of magma is seemingly small, its location and profile hints that
it has a composition of rhyolite.
Rhyolite tends to produce very explosive eruptions during which lava domes are constructed.
While an eruption is nowhere close to imminent, us scientists are paying close attention to
this volcano.
Here is a quick list of every volcano which is currently erupting.
Also, here are some volcanoes showing signs of unrest which could erupt in the near future.
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