Volcano watch 2011

Curious Update on Hekla (Iceland):

Unusual Activity Around Hekla Volcano

The movements have been recorded in five very precise meters that have been placed around Mt. Hekla in recent years. Professor Páll Einarsson says that these movements are seen in all five meters and even though the evidence is not conclusive they are thought to show magma movement under the volcano.
(...)
As of now there is no cause for any activity on behalf of the Public safety commission.

Am i right in thinking that this means that Hekla is "growing" on all Sides?

this is a quite useful thread, great thanx

Originally posted by Shenon
Am i right in thinking that this means that Hekla is "growing" on all Sides?

The mountain has been expanding steadily for about 11 years ,
statistically they say it should have erupted again already.

The volcano is about the same size as the volcano which erupted last year
but this one being further north and further inland than that one and eruption effects
are hard to predict ,they may vary. This one could potentially halt flights when it goes off.

Iceland's Hekla volcano 'ready to erupt'

REYKJAVIK (AFP) – One of Iceland's most feared volcanoes, Hekla, looks ready to erupt, with measurement instruments showing likely magma movement...

(...)
while this might not necessarily mean an immediate blast, "the volcano is ready to erupt."

reply to post by PuterMan


are any of the 6 super volcanoes active right now???

reply to post by Shenon


just in case.......:-)

www.simnet.is...

reply to post by ressiv


Another cam

www.ruv.is...

just thought id post this story i came across today for you all to read =)

One of Iceland's most feared volcanoes looks ready to erupt, raising fears of a new ash cloud over Europe. The Hekla volcano is close to the ash-spewing Eyjafjoell, which last year caused the world's biggest airspace shut down since World War II, affecting more than 100,000 flights and eight million passengers. Experts have said measurements of Hekla - dubbed "Gateway to Hell" by locals - indicate magma movement. "The movements around Hekla have been unusual in the last two to three days," University of Iceland geophysicist Pall Einarsson said. While this might not necessarily mean an immediate blast, "the volcano is ready to erupt," he stressed. "The mountain has been slowly expanding in the last few years because of magma build up," he explained. Another geophysicist, Ari Trausit Gudmundsson, said measurements around Hekla were very "unusual" and the volcano looked ready to blow. "Something is going on," he said, stressing though that "if or when the volcano erupts is unclear." The volcano, is one of Iceland's most active, has erupted some 20 times over the past millennium, most recently on February 26, 2000.

Iceland's 'Gateway To Hell' Ready To Erupt

Well if this erupts soon i am glad i have not got any plans to holiday this year dont fancy being stranded again..!!

reply to post by moosevernel


www.jonfr.com...

As usual, Professor Pall Einarsson is at the heart of the rumour-mongering. That Hekla is a very dangerous volcano that is “due” and may erupt this or within the next few years, almost without warning, is as common knowledge as the fact that Professor Pall Einarsson is wont to make “bold” predictions. During and since the Fimvörduhalsi and Eyjafjallajökulli eruptions, he has been going on about how the Katla and Eyjafjallajökull volcanic systems were interconnected and that Katla was bound to erupt within months. It hasn’t turned out that way, so now he’s predicting that Hekla is due “within days” (as reported by Swedish Teletext). I too have a prediction:

If Hekla hasn’t erupted by the end of the month, Professor Pall Einarsson will find it increasingly hard to have future predictions about Icelandic volcanic behaviour taken seriously.

This is just one of the comments. You need to take a look at the rest of the article as well. Seems Hekla is deflating. Also seems that no one is too sure what is happening.

Professor Pall Einarsson is a respected man; he was also the only person who warned of Eyjafjallajökull eruption and at that time most others did not accept his analysis. However in this case of Hekla his name is misused for the sake of sensationalism.

Here is a quite from ICENEWS dated 7 July 2011.

"Mount Hekla is one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes and last erupted in 2000, 1991 and 1981. Scientists have been expecting a new eruption for several years and recent activity under the mountain seems to have confirmed that the volcano is ready to erupt.

However, geophysicist Pall Einarsson said in interview with IceNews today that the current volcano scare is simply made up: “They are actually quoting me as saying that Hekla will erupt soon; but there is nothing new in this. I’ve been saying this for three or four years and ‘soon’ means different things to journalists and geologists,” he said.

The mountain has risen up by about a metre – a sure sign that magma is close to the surface. But no earthquakes have been measured – which means that an eruption is not immediately imminent. "

On the other hand, Hekla does have the cunning occurrence of a sudden need to go - warnings of less than two hours were 'given' during the last two major explosive eruptions: 1947 (Ash cloud 30,000 meters and tear in earth more than 12 km long) and 1104 with VI-5.

Many eruptions in past millennium, though relative small explosions and big lava flows - years AD are: 1158, 1206, 1222, 1301,1341,1389, 1440, 1510, 1597, 1636, 1693, 1725, 1766, 1845, 1873, 1913, 1947, 1970, 1980, 1991 and the last one was 2000 - 11 years ago.

Most eruptions lasted for about one month. The 1947 eruption lasted for a bit more than one year and 2000 eruption only 12 days.


PS: NABRO is still going - steam and magma flows

reply to post by Aromaz


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Thousands need aid after volcano eruption

ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI, 6 July 2011 (IRIN) - Thousands of Ethiopians in Afar State are facing critical food, water and health gaps almost a month after a volcano erupted in neighbouring Eritrea's Nabro region, officials say.

The volcano started erupting on 12 June, spewing ash over hundreds of kilometres, affecting food and water sources as well as air travel in some parts. The eruption occurred after a series of earthquakes among them one with a magnitude of 5.7, Eritrea's Information Ministry reported in a communiqué.

According to a report from Ethiopia's Afar Disaster Prevention and Food Security Programs Coordination Office: "The adverse impacts of the volcanic ash increased reports of livestock mortality, migration, critical water shortage, human health problems and rising malnutrition among the worst volcanic affected woredas [districts]: Bidu, Afdera, Erebti, Elidar, Teru and Kori.

"In Bidu woreda, [the] deaths of 31 persons were reported as a result of the volcano ash."

reply to post by Aromaz

he was also the only person who warned of Eyjafjallajökull eruption

I agree with you and was just offering what I had found BUT he was not the only person by any means. This was talked about at least two months before it happened and some knowledgeable bloggers even went as far as to put a date on it, which turned out to be pretty much on the nail.

Basically it is the 'cry wolf' syndrome being applied. As the article said, say it too often and you will become discredited.

They are actually quoting me as saying that Hekla will erupt soon; but there is nothing new in this. I’ve been saying this for three or four years and ‘soon’ means different things to journalists and geologists

I guess then that as a respected geologist of not inconsiderable years he should have learned by now to measure his words when speaking to the media. I have noticed him back tracking like this before however so I am not convinced. He did this on Grimsvotn recently to a degree which then decided to ignore him and fizzle out.

A cry that 'soon' means different things to journalists and geologists means that he is aware of the problems and yet still makes statements that he knows will be sensationalised. Based on his (Einarsson) information the President of Iceland also got caught in this trap and was severely scolded by his people.

Sorry, no excuse in these media aware days.

reply to post by manticorex5

are any of the 6 super volcanoes active right now???

I suppose that depends on how you define 'active'.

None are erupting, but several of them exhibit some sort of activity.

VEI 8 eruptions have happened in the following locations.

* Lake Taupo, Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand—Oruanui eruption ~26,500 years ago (~1,170 km³)
* Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia—~74,000 years ago (~2,800 km³)
* Yellowstone Caldera, Lava Creek Tuff, Wyoming, United States, Yellowstone hotspot—640,000 years ago (1,000 km³)[8]
* Cerro Galan, Catamarca Province, Argentina—2.5 million years ago (1,050 km³)
* Atana Ignimbrite, Pacana Caldera, northern Chile—4 million years ago (2,500 km³)[9]
km³).[10]
* La Garita Caldera, Colorado, United States—Source of the enormous eruption of the Fish Canyon Tuff ~27.8 million years ago (~5,000 km³)

Source (I have removed the other Yellowstone ones as they can all be considered one. I have also only left 1 Taupo VEI 8 in there)

Of those I don't know if there is activity at the last three but there certainly is at the first three.

Maybe its nothing but tremor is rising at katla.

hraun.vedur.is...

I know nothing about a volcano but if a earthquake goes off right under it does that mean it is waking up? kind of like this? link

Increasing activity at katla and now confirmed reports of the glacier melting and a strong smell of sulphur!

www.jonfr.com...

Latest update

www.jonfr.com...

Originally posted by logicalview
Latest update

www.jonfr.com...

Good pointer logicalview!! Thanks for the head up.

KATLA is in possible process of eruption. No explosive ash cloud - as yet but magma has caused melting of glacier and that cause floods. One bridge on main ring-road washed away. Vilagers and farms nearby evacuated and other in process of evacuation. It might be a repeat of 1955 suspected eruption which caused only melting of glacier.

No big explosion yet but observers do expect she migh blow a top.
At present large cracks are observed in at least three new location on the glacier.

Keep an eye on the quakes!

Explosive, yes. When you mix fire and ice, you get a big boom.

My model is exactly that, I placed an ice disk ontop a can of hot oil.
Ice(glacier/water)+ Oil(magma/lava) + pressure= boom.

www.youtube.com...

Indeed the KATLA volcano live webcam shows an ominous lava dome building!

reply to post by Heyyo_yoyo


I doubt very much that that's a lava dome.

Latest pic from glacier fly-over. www.ruv.is...