As of July 10th, 2022, there are 48 volcanoes actively erupting on the planet.
One of these erupting volcanoes in Santa Maria in Guatemala, which has been producing vulcanian
explosions from its young group of overlapping lava domes called Santiaguito.
This volcano produced the 3rd largest explosive eruption of the 20th century which ejected
10 cubic kilometers of tephra in 1902 and has been near continuously erupting ever since.
With this being said, here are this week's major volcano related news stories.
In the Philippines, the nation's volcano and disaster agency issued a special statement
about the Kanlaon volcano due to an increased short term risk of a new volcanic eruption.
Meanwhile, in Alaska, two volcanoes which each have not erupted in about 100 years produced
plumes of ash which were visible from satellite.
And, in Guatemala, the highly dangerous volcan Fuego produced one of its most powerful explosions
in the last several years, sending a superheated pyroclastic flow several kilometers downslope
towards a group of homes.
This large eruption occurred on the morning of July 4th, where large amounts of gasses
and volcanic debris were expelled from the volcano's central vent in a vulcanian explosion.
Much of this material was quite dense so it raced downslope at more than 100 kilometers
per hour as a pyroclastic flow.
During Fuego's latest eruption which has been ongoing since January of 2002, the volcano's
pyroclastic flows have largely been funneled into one of three small ravines and drainages.
During 2022, the Ceniza drainage has been the most frequent site of larger pyroclastic
flows, and July 4th was no exception.
The superheated pyroclastic flow raced down this ravine, travelling a total of 6 kilometers
before abruptly stopping.
Although no one was harmed, this was a close call.
If the pyroclastic flow had travelled another kilometer in the same direction, it would
have hit a farmer's field likely to be filled with workers.
After the pyroclastic flow stopped, a plume of ash from the large eruption rose to a height
of 5,000 meters or 16,400 feet.
This vulcanian explosion was not deadly, but it could have been.
A similar eruption of a larger magnitude occurred on June 3rd of 2018, which sent pyroclastic
flows down the Las Lajas drainage, travelling a total of 13 kilometers and harming many.
Although there are no immediate signs of a similarly sized repeat event, the local disaster
agency has advised residents to remain cautious.
Scientists are closely monitoring Fuego to see if a similar repeat will occur, and the
volcano is currently in a higher risk phase.
In the Philippines, the local volcanological agency Phivolcs issued an alert on July 3rd
regarding one of the nation's most active volcanoes, Kanlaon.
Beginning on June 30th at 5:00 am local time, sensors on the volcano began registering an
abnormal level of volcano tectonic earthquakes.
These earthquakes which are often referred to as VTs for short occur in part due to the
movement of magma or hydrothermal fluids at depth.
This causes pressure to build on a fault which is then released, triggering an earthquake.
Although volcano tectonic earthquakes are relatively common at active volcanoes, a large
or increasing number of these quakes is a good indication that an eruption might occur.
This is currently the fear at Kanlaon, as it produced 1 quake on June 30th, 9 on July
1st, and spiked to 21 VT quakes on July 4th.
Although the number of quakes has since decreased to 5 a day, context matters.
The Bulusan volcano produced a similar increase in these quakes in early June of this year
before producing a sequence of phreatic explosions.
Kanlaon has the same danger, and its edifice is displaying minor amounts of ground uplift.
Since there is currently an increased likelihood of a new eruption at this volcano, please
stay at least 4 kilometers away from its summit.
In Alaska, both the Katmai and Aniakchak volcano's produced a plume of ash on June 30th.
In the case of Katmai the ash plume rose to a height of 1,800 meters or 6,000 feet and
drifted towards the northwest.
Yet, the alert level remained at green for both volcanoes.
The reason for this is that both volcanoes did not actually erupt, but rather strong
winds remobilized ash deposited from recent large volume explosive eruptions.
Most of this ash originated from Novarupta's 1912 eruption in the case of Katmai, and from
a combination of Aniakchak's large 1931 and 1645 BCE eruptions.
This phenomenon is rather common at both volcanoes between April and July when the average wind
speed in the area is highest.
Here is a quick list of every volcano which is currently erupting.
Additionally, here are some volcanoes which are not erupting but could erupt in the near
future.
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