ALERT: Shinmoedake Volcano Erupts In Japan

Powerful eruptions at a volcano in southern Japan spewed ash thousands of feet into the air on Wednesday as authorities warned locals not to approach the mountain. Shinmoedake volcano has erupted several times in violent explosions recently.

The Shinmoedake volcano, located on Japan’s southernmost main island, Kyushu, has been bubbling and rumbling since last week. The entrance to the volcano was closed and monitoring increased last week before it finally began shooting ash and smoke into the sky on Tuesday.

According to Channel News Asia, “The plume reached the height of 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) for the first time since Apr 3, 2011,” following a total of 29 eruptions at Mount Shinmoedake, Japan’s weather agency said in a statement.  People have also been ordered to stay away from the volcano as major ash deposits spread from the crater, the agency said.

The volcano, which featured in the 1967 James Bond film “You Only Live Twice,” has been grumbling since last Thursday. Footage captured by the Meteorological Agency showed lava and thick grey smoke rising from the mountain around midnight on Wednesday.

The volcano also produced so-called “explosive” eruptions, which also featured air blasts. This volcanoes eruption doesn’t appear to be triggering fear in the masses of a more violent “Ring of Fire,” but it’s nonetheless significant geologically.  Japan, has scores of active volcanoes and sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire” where a large proportion of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.

There were no reports of injuries or property damage, but Newsweek reported that eruptions were expected to continue and the risk of flying rocks and pyroclastic flows were possible.

Volcanic Activity And Earthquakes In The Ring Of Fire Spark Fears Of ‘The BIG ONE’

The Ring of Fire appears to be awakening in the past few weeks.  As deaths, injuries, and evacuations occur around the volatile area, new fears have arisen that the “big one” could occur any day now.

Many have warned that the Ring of Fire’s activity could produce a large enough earthquake to completely destroy the entire California coast. So far, nothing of the sort has happened, but new and violent volcanic activity is forcing the fear back to the forefront of people’s minds.

According to The Sun, scientists are now sounding the alarm as well.  Scientists have warned that the frequent seismic activity, which has already claimed lives, could mean a huge quake is on the way.  A new study out of California says that the cluster of tremors around the planet’s so-called Ring of Fire (the horseshoe-shaped geological disaster zone) could indicate the “big one” is due to hit, TheDaily Mail Online reports.

The research, published in the journal Science Advances, involved analysis of 101 major earthquakes around the Pacific Ring of Fire between 1990 and 2016. Thorne Lay, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, said, “Based on the clustering of earthquakes in space and time, the area that has just slipped is actually more likely to have another failure.” He added that despite the stress on the fault being lowered to below failure level, “the surrounding areas have been pushed towards failure in many cases, giving rise to aftershocks and the possibility of an adjacent large rupture sooner rather than later.”

“Taiwan, Guam, and Japan are far apart relative to the static stress interactions, but one could examine the seismic shaking from an earlier event in the region of a later event to see if small earthquakes were triggered as the seismic waves went by which could have led to a cascade of failures culminating in a larger event,” said Lay.  “Until that type of analysis is done, causal connection between the events is very speculative. Earthquakes are happening frequently in the Ring of Fire, and some apparent space-time clustering could arise from purely random (non-interacting) activity.”

More than 180 people were injured and 17 people killed when a 6.4 magnitude quake struck Taiwan’s east coast on February 6.

On Tuesday a series of tremors reaching magnitudes as high as 5.7 shook the US island territory of Guam.

Since February 11, three earthquakes have hit Japan, the largest measured at 4.8 on the Richter scale and was 103 kilometers from Hachijo.

But scientists have reassured the public, saying such activity is normal for the Ring of Fire and dismissed speculation of a “domino effect” triggering a bigger quake. –The Sun

While some scientists look to discover the possibility of an unexpected “big one,” many others are urging the public to remain calm and not be concerned.

Toshiyasu Nagao, head of Tokyo-based Tokai UNiversity’s Earthquake Prediction Research Centre, told Japan Times, “The Pacific Rim is in a period of activity. In terms of volcanic history, however, the current activity is still regarded as normal.”

Ring Of Fire ON ALERT As Earthquake Rocks Japan

The ring of fire is on alert after Japan was rocked by an earthquake. The 5.1 magnitude quake is just one more in the past week that’s made the area increasingly geologically unstable.

The Japan earthquake struck 46 miles from the town of Miyako, which is home to more than 50,000 people.  Morioka-shi, home to nearly 300,000 people, is 73 miles from the epicenter. It comes after a week of chaos in the region, with a volcanic eruption sparking a fatal avalanche in Japan earlier this week.  And still one other fairly major earthquake which measured at a 6.2 magnitude struck off the coast of Honshu at a depth of 24 miles.  Luckily, no damages or injuries were reported because of that earthquake.

However, a volcanic eruption in the Philippines forced mass evacuations just recently, while another in Japan kills one person. Across the Pacific, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits off Alaska. The spate of activity around the so-called Ring of Fire has raised concerns that a major and potentially deadly volcanic eruption or earthquake could be on the way.

According to Japan Today, earthquakes occur around the Ring of Fire on a daily basis, but the recent string of quakes and eruptions sparked talk of an uptick, with the U.N.’s Office for Disaster Risk Reduction tweeting that the Ring of Fire was active. “The Pacific Rim is in a period of activity,” acknowledged Toshiyasu Nagao, head of Tokai University’s Earthquake Prediction Research Center.  “In terms of volcanic history, however, the current activity is still regarded as normal,” he told AFP. “It’s not referred to as the ‘ring of fire’ because it sits there doing nothing… it is normal to have so much activity,” tweeted volcanologist Janine Krippner.

The experts do not appear overly concerned about the activity on the Ring of Fire.  “Volcanic activity at each volcano is not correlated,” said Yosuki Aoki, assistant professor of physical volcanology at the University of Tokyo. He also said volcanos “cycle through active and inactive periods, and this is part of it. I don’t think something abnormal is taking place.”

“This is pretty normal activity for Earth, the media is just reporting on more of them right now,” Krippner added on her Twitter account.  Which makes one wonder why the media can’t report on the massive corruption and major scandals in the FBI but have time to scare the public over some volcanic activity.

Nagao said the volcanic activity seen in Japan could continue, but that the region was experiencing a relatively quiet period for earthquakes. “In terms of earthquakes, the region is not that active now. There was an earthquake in Alaska the other day, but quakes with such strength have occurred regularly in the region.”

Mount Mayon Erupts Beautifully But Violently, Spewing Lava, Smoke, And Ash

Warnings that Mount Mayon would soon erupt have caused over 50,000 Philippines residents living in the area to flee their homes.  Well, the volcano has erupted, complete with lava fountains and ash, and it’s eerily beautiful.

Mount Mayon has spewed lava up to 2,000ft high and its ash plumes stretched up to three miles above the crater.  Cedric Daep, a provincial disaster response official, told a news conference that he has recommended electricity and water supplies be cut in the no-go zones to discourage residents from returning. “If pyroclastic flows hit people, there is no chance for life, Daep said. “Let us not violate the natural law, avoid the prohibited zone, because if you violate, the punishment is the death penalty.”

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the volcano that’s been erupting for almost two weeks, at times very explosively, and still appears to be swelling with magma under the surface.

Mayon’s most destructive eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried the town of Cagsawa in volcanic mud. The Philippines, which has about 22 active volcanoes, lies in the “Ring of Fire,” a line of seismic faults surrounding the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.

This is the third time since its eruption that Mayon has generated a lava fountain. Pyroclastic flows, superheated gas and volcanic debris that could incinerate anything in their path, reached 3 miles from the crater in one area, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. “It’s a logistical nightmare,” Office of Civil Defense regional director Claudio Yucot said of the government’s effort to look after the still-swelling number of evacuees in at least 66 emergency shelters in nine cities and towns in northeastern Albay province, where Mayon lies.

Based on its previous eruptions, Mayon’s restiveness could last from two to four months, prompting Albay and national authorities to take steps to ease the impact on schools, public health and safety, livelihood, and law and order, officials said.  Officials have already had problems keeping people from entering the restricted zones to check on livestock or the condition of their homes.

Should any of these trends continue, Mayon could severely impact not only the global climate but become deadly.

 

Antarctic Volcano Warning: Ash Could "Encircle The Globe" Causing Worldwide Health Problems

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

Scientists are sounding the alarm about a volcano eruption in Antartica that could cause global health problems. The ash from this eruption could encircle the globe, affecting millions of people.

Deception Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, is a hotbed of volcanic activity with at least 50 craters spread across the region. A recent study done in the area by scientists has found evidence that an eruption on the island could disrupt air traffic on continents in the Southern Hemisphere, including South America and Africa. It could also cause some major health concerns for the whole globe.

The findings of the research show that Antarctica’s volcanoes can have an effect across the world, says Charles Connor, a geoscientist at the University of South Florida in Tampa not involved in the research. “We have to reassess the potential hazards for global transportation networks posed by even these remote volcanoes.”

“Ash emitted during explosive volcanic eruptions may disperse over vast areas of the globe posing a threat to human health and infrastructures and causing significant disruption to air traffic,” scientists warned in their report. 

 

“Volcanic ash emitted from Antarctic volcanoes could potentially encircle the globe, leading to significant consequences for global aviation safety.”

The study revealed the “significant consequences to global aviation” after reviewing computer models of ash flows from different types of eruption during different seasons. The research is the first of its kind investigating the horrifying impact of ash from an Antarctic volcano on the rest of the word. “No attention has been paid to the potential socio-economic and environmental consequences of an ash-forming eruption occurring at high southern latitudes,” the study declared.

Adelina Geyer, a geologist at the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues focused on Deception Island because of its history of eruptions—30 or so in the past 10,000 years, and one as recently as 1970. It is also a popular destination: Both Argentina and Spain manage scientific research bases on the island, and tourists come to admire the world’s largest colony of chinstrap penguins and the rusted boilers and tanks that are relics of the early 20th century whaling industry there.

 

Geyer’s team modeled an eruption on Deception Island by simulating different column heights for volcanic ash: 5, 10, and 15 kilometers. (Indonesia’s Mount Agung, when it erupted last month, sent ash billowing up 9 kilometers.) The height of the plume determines which wind patterns it encounters, which, in turn, affects its dispersal. The researchers used an atmospheric transport model to track the way ash would disperse on regional and global scales and assess its possible effect on air travel.

–Science Mag

The impact on the global economy could be immense. The eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 cost the global economy £3.49billion ($4.7billion) by grounding flights across Europe.

Planes are under threat because the ash can clog engines and fuel lines causing them to stall and potentially fall out of the sky.

“We demonstrate here that ash from high southern latitude volcanoes may pose a threat higher than previously believed,” the study concluded.

But the health effects of an eruption on Deception Island could be even more horrific than the economic impact. Volcanic ash distributed globally could cause health issues worldwide.

Island Nation Of Vanuatu Evacuated As Volcano Erupts

Natural disasters are coming fast and furious around the globe.  About 6,000 people have been evacuated from the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu because of an erupting volcano.

Although the Monaro volcano on Ambae island has been active since 2005, however, sudden activity on Saturday raised fears of a major eruption.  The director of Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office Shadrack Welegtabit said on Tuesday that Vanuatu would declare an emergency on the island after the volcano’s activity measure was raised to Level Four for the first time over the weekend.

Vanuatu is located about one-quarter of the way from Australia to Hawaii.  It’s made up of 80 islands, about 65 of which are inhabited, and is home to around 280,000 people. The nation is considered one of the world’s most prone to natural disasters, with a half-dozen active volcanoes as well as regular cyclones and earthquakes.  It rests on the Pacific’s ‘Ring of Fire,’ the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanoes are common.

Welegtabit also said those villagers had been moved into schools and community halls in the island’s eastern and western regions and that authorities have already planned to send a ship to the island filled with water, food, and other supplies to help those people who had been displaced. That ship is due to arrive on Wednesday.

Almost 50,000 people are currently evacuated from the island nation of Bali in Indonesia as well, due to an imminent volcanic eruption there.
‘There’s ash, fire, stones, and lava being thrown out from the mouth of the volcano,” Welegtabit said. “There’s a lot of activity going on.” He also said that it’s difficult to say whether there will be a major eruption and that those who have been evacuated will just have to sit and wait for further instruction. At this time, evacuees are in limbo.

Vanuatu was also close to a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that occurred on September 20 of this year.

Vanuatu’s Meteorology and Geohazards Department said that villagers within 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) of the volcano face the biggest risk from airborne rocks and volcanic gas.  The department also warned that acid rain could damage crops across a broader area.

“With the seismic machine, we can measure what’s happening but we can’t really predict what the volcano will do next,” he said.

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Author: Mac Slavo
Views: Read by 208 people
Date: September 26th, 2017
Website: www.SHTFplan.com

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USGS Warns California Needs Close Monitoring Of 8 Active Volcanoes

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

California could be even closer to a major natural disaster than ever before.  With eight active volcanoes and a high state population, the United States Geological Survey says that the Golden State is in desperate need of very close monitoring.

“I call them the watch-list volcanoes,” said Margaret Mangan, Scientist-in-Charge at the California Volcano Observatory. Scientists know from geophysical and geochemical research that these volcanoes have molten rock and magma, “in their roots,”  and the world’s top volcanologists aren’t taking any chances anymore.

 They are heading to Portland, Oregon on August 14 for the first international volcanology assembly held in the U.S. since 1989. The many famous, prominent, and dangerous volcanoes of the West Coast will be the subject of field trips and much discussion during the assembly.

The volcanoes which will get the most discussion are shown in the image below.

USGS caption: Volcanoes of very high to low threat are scattered throughout California, from the Oregon border (north) to Mexico (south). Other older volcanoes in California are of less concern. California’s volcano watch list is subject to change as new data on past eruptive activity are collected, as volcanic unrest changes, and as populations in threatened areas grow or decline.

Throughout the Cascade Range and into southern California, the West Coast is home to most of the country’s highest-threat volcanoes, as ranked by the United State Geological Survey, making California a ticking time bomb. As if the earthquake threat on the heavily populated West Coast wasn’t enough, scientists are now concerned about the volcanic activity as well. While Mount Shasta unsurprisingly tops USGS’s list of very-high threat volcanoes in California, there are seven other volcanic areas in the state that are also “young, nervy, jacked up on magma, and likely to erupt.”

Back in 2005, a national team led by John Ewert, a volcanologist with the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, established a system for other volcanologists, which would help them decide which of the United States’ 169 young volcanoes are the most dangerous and most in need of monitoring. In the “Framework for a National Volcano Early Warning System,” Ewert’s team identified 57 priority volcanoes in the U.S., and eight just in California are now on high alert.

Roughly half of the nation’s 169 young volcanoes are dangerous because of the manner in which they erupt and the communities within their reach. Volcanologists are going to be monitoring these volcanoes in California closely, and maybe they can give those nearest some kind of warning should major changes signaling an eruption occur.