Source: VolcanoDiscovery.com - Updated 10/19/12
Kīlauea volcano: current activity & news
Pressure builds as lava flows continue
Over the past month, lava flows have advanced to become accessible and continue to pool near the base of the pali on Kīlauea's coastal plain, while at the same time a faster rise in pressure is being expressed from the summit to the East Rift Zone, with a remarkable 8mm widening of Pu`u `Ō`ō crater since the beginning of October! Activity continues within that crater at higher levels, but much more impressively the lava lake level within Halema`uma`u has risen to the highest point of this eruption, less than 50m/165ft below the 1974-2008 crater floor! Loud cracking sounds are common this week, as the heat of the high lava lake causes spalling of small rocks on the inner crater walls and the brightest glow we've seen so far.
This is great news for our visitors, with active lava still available until the next major change in the eruption AND spectacular glow from the volcano's summit to be seen! Keep up with the action through our Kilauea webcams / live data" link (permanently on our right sidebar), combining many of the USGS & other data feeds into the same display! The USGS Photos & Videos page also has great photos and recent movies of the active lava lakes and other activity.
Meanwhile, increased pressure has been causing increased swelling of the summit, evidenced by the background tilt level (notwithstanding the occasional DI dip and recovery) and increased GPS spreading rate. This pressure seems to be reaching the east rift zone, with an uptick in seismic activity in the usual bottleneck locations but more importantly with the 8mm spreading of GPS on Pu`u `Ō`ō crater since the start of the month, which puts us on a very high alert for a change in the volcano's activity. Very similar activity preceded the March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure during the month prior to that eruption, so stay tuned!
Related Video: Weather.com
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Source: VolcanoDiscovery.com - 10/18/12
Volcanic activity world-wide 18 October 2012
Thermal anomalies are visible at Ibu volcano (Halmahera, Indonesia), suggesting eruptive activity at the summit, possibly related to lava dome growth in the wide summit crater that has been documented since 2000.
A small swarm of shallow quakes has been occurring today at Kilauea volcano on Hawai'i in an area about 6 km SE of the caldera under the eastern rift zone.
The summit lava lake rose yesterday afternoon and has been steady since.
At Pu`u `O`o, the lava lake in the northeast pit was active, and small lava flows were erupted from a spatter cone on the southern side of the crater.
Lava flows southeast of Pu`u `O`o continued to be active on the coastal plain near the base of the pali. Seismic tremor levels were low, and gas emissions were elevated.
The number of (mostly weak) explosions of Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico remains elevated compared to most of the previous weeks. Some of the explosions produce ash plumes up to about 1 km height. Incandescent ejecta are sometimes seen at night and the volcano produces a strong SO2 plume.
Fuego volcano in Guatemala has had only effusive activity since yesterday, and the lava flow is now 800 m long.
Elevated number of earthquakes including a felt magnitude 3 event on 17 Oct have been recorded at Cerro Machin volcano.
Nevado del Ruiz volcano continues to produce a significant steam plume which sometimes contains ash. Seismic activity remains elevated.
Nevado del Huila continues to show weak seismic activity and is steaming.
Weak seismic unrest (100 events counted during a week) continues at shallow depth under Sotará volcano.
More earthquake swarms occurred at Cumbal volcano on 9 October between 1:00 pm and 6:30 pm with approximately 50 events, and between 7:00 pm on Oct. 11 and 6:00 am on October 12 with 112 earthquakes.
Low-energy seismic activity continues at fluctuating levels and there are sometimes small gas and ash emissions from Galeras volcano.
After a day of repose on 16 Oct, Sakurajima volcano has been busy with 5 moderate explosions over the past 24 hours, with maximum ash plumes reaching 10,000 ft (3 km) altitude.
The reported submarine eruption Fukutoku-Okanoba was false. The last eruption of the volcano was in 2010.
