Tag Archives: volcanoes

The Guardian reports: Emergency teams worked through the night to bolster defensive barriers around the evacuated fishing town of Grindavik as lava from the fourth volcanic eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula since December flowed towards it. After weeks of warnings that semi-molten rock was building up under the ground, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said the eruption, at 8.23pm local …

The BBC reports: A volcano has erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland after weeks of intense earthquake activity. About 4,000 people were earlier evacuated from the fishing town of Grindavik and the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa was closed. The region around the capital Reykjavik has been experiencing an increase in earthquake activity since late October. Images and …

Bloomberg News reports: The people of Iceland are bracing for what could be the country’s most devastating volcanic eruption in 50 years, with a small fishing town at risk of being destroyed. There’s a significant likelihood of magma busting to the surface over the coming days at Grindavik, home to over 3,600 people, the Met Office said on Sunday. More …

CNN reports: Millions of people in Mexico have been warned to prepare for a possible evacuation after increased activity from the country’s most dangerous active volcano, which has been spewing ash into several nearby towns since last week, according to authorities. Ash from Popocatépetl volcano, which is in a central part of the country, has delayed flights in Mexico City …

The Associated Press reports: Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, has started to erupt, prompting volcanic ash and debris to fall nearby, authorities said Monday. The eruption began late Sunday night in the summit caldera of the volcano on the Big Island, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Early Monday, it said lava flows were contained within the summit …

The BBC reports: A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves has smothered the Pacific islands in ash, cut power and severed communications. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the tsunami had wreaked “significant damage”, washing boats ashore and battering beachside shops. Locals say Tonga looks “like a moonscape” after being coated in a layer of volcanic …

Reuters reports: Tsunami-hit Tonga remained largely uncontactable on Sunday with telephone and internet links severed, leaving relatives in faraway New Zealand praying for their families on the Pacific islands as casualty reports had yet to come through. An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering warnings of 1.2-metre tsunami waves and evacuation orders on the shores of Tonga as …

The BBC reports: Tsunami waves caused by a giant underwater volcanic eruption have hit the Pacific country of Tonga. Social media footage showed water washing through a church and several homes, and witnesses said ash was falling over the capital, Nuku’alofa. A tsunami warning sent residents scrambling to higher ground. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano was heard …

Euronews reports: Experts have described the latest volcanic activity on La Palma as a “tsunami of lava”. Huge rivers of molten rock have been spewing from the crater in recent days after a 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook the island on Thursday and intensified flows. The quake is the strongest recorded since the Cumbre Vieja volcano — on the island of La …

Reuters reports: The Canary Islands are safe to visit and a volcano eruption there is a “wonderful show”, Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said on Monday, just hours after 5,000 people, including hundreds of tourists, had to be evacuated. Maroto’s remarks drew immediate criticism from Teodoro Garcia Egea, secretary general of the opposition People’s Party, who posted an article on …

The Associated Press reports: La Soufriere volcano fired an enormous amount of ash and hot gas early Monday in the biggest explosive eruption yet since volcanic activity began on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent late last week, with officials worried about the lives of those who have refused to evacuate. Experts called it a “huge explosion” that generated …

The New York Times reports: A volcano in the southern Caribbean that had been dormant for decades erupted on Friday, spewing clouds of ash and smoke miles into the sky.  The volcano, known as La Soufrière, on the northern tip of the main island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which began showing signs of renewed activity in late December, …

NBC News reports: A volcano open to tour groups unexpectedly erupted off the coast of New Zealand on Monday, killing at least five people, authorities said. Officials were unsure of the exact number of people who were missing or injured. Search-and-rescue operations on the island have stalled because it is too dangerous to approach the island, said John Tims, deputy …

CBS News reports: Emergency workers in Hawaii are racing to protect a geothermal power plant near the Kilauea Volcano. Slow-moving molten rock entered the site and is just a few hundred yards from the wells. There is concern lava could trigger the release of deadly hydrogen sulfate gas, reports CBS News’ Mark Strassmann. Lava continued its steady advance toward the …

Hawaii News Now reports: Two lava flows are now pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the Kilauea eruption. The flows are dripping into the water on the southeast side of the island, in the vicinity of the Mackenzie State Park. It’s a beautiful sight that could come with the hazardous effects of a new concern: Laze. Civil Defense officials say …

NBC News reports: Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted from its summit before dawn Thursday, shooting a dusty plume of ash about 30,000 feet into the sky. The explosion came at about 6 a.m. local time (12 p.m. ET) after two weeks of volcanic activity and the opening of more than a dozen fissures east of the crater that spewed lava into …