It’s been a while since I’ve done a report on volcanic activity, but there have been some interesting developments in the world of geology that I thought I would share.
To begin with, the Kanlaon Volcano in the central Philippines erupted on Tuesday, sending a massive ash plume approximately 2.5 miles into the sky. The eruption has caused significant disruptions, including school closures, evacuations, and health warnings for residents in affected areas.
While no injuries were immediately reported, volcanic ash blanketed nearby villages and significantly reduced visibility, complicating transport and raising health concerns.Authorities raised the alert level, warning of the potential for further hazardous volcanic activity. Officials ordered evacuations for those living within a 6-kilometer radius (nearly 4-mile) of the volcano’s crater as emergency shelters began filling.A time-lapse video posted to X by the country’s seismological agency showed the huge plume of ash bursting from the volcano.
Meanwhile, in this country, Mount Spurr (located about 80 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska) continues to show signs of volcanic unrest this month. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has maintained the volcano’s alert level at “Advisory” and its aviation color code at “Yellow,” indicating ongoing elevated seismic activity.
Alaska’s Mount Spurr volcano continues to show signs of unrest, and that has led to an alert level increase in the city of Anchorage as fears of an impending eruption grow.According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), numerous small, shallow earthquakes continue to rumble under the volcano. An AVO flight over the volcano on Friday observed continued steaming from the summit, as well as gas emissions.”AVO continues monitoring activity at Mount Spurr for signals indicating that the volcano is moving closer to an eruption,” the AVO said in an update on its website. “Based on previous eruptions, changes from current activity in the earthquakes, ground deformation, summit lake conditions, and fumarolic activity would be expected if magma began to move closer to the surface.”
I have an eye on Iceland as well, as a long-dormant fault line appears to be active again. Earlier this month, another volcanic eruption occurred on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula near the Sundhnúkur crater row, marking the eighth eruption in this area since December 2023.
The eruption prompted another evacuation of the town of Grindavík and nearby attractions, including the Blue Lagoon spa and the Svartsengi Geothermal Power Plant.
The volcano is close to the fishing town of Grindavik and the famous Blue Lagoon spa. A small number of people refused to evacuate the town, local media reported.Grindavik resident Asrun Kristinsdottir told the BBC she fled after hearing emergency sirens early in the morning.Living near the volcano for most of her life meant she always had bags packed and ready to go. But she said this time was different because of “constant” quakes as she was preparing to leave.The protective barriers around Grindavik have been breached, as a new eruptive fissure opened a few hundred meters inside, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) reported.
Finally, to wrap up this report, I wanted to mention the major earthquake that recently struck central Myanmar, specifically in the Sagaing Region near Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.
This was caused by strike-slip faulting along the Sagaing Fault, a major tectonic boundary in the region. The quake was one of the most devastating in Myanmar’s history, with widespread destruction and significant impacts felt in neighboring countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, and China.
The shallow but powerful 7.7 shaker caused more than 3,000 deaths and the collapse of a tower being constructed in Thailand.
Even though the south-east Asian nation is a high risk region for earthquakes, neighbouring Thailand and China – which were also affected by the quake – are not.The Thai capital, Bangkok, sits more than 1,000km (621 miles) from the epicentre of Friday’s earthquake – and yet an unfinished high-rise building in the city was felled by it.Here we will explain what caused this earthquake, and how it was able to have such a powerful effect so far away.
Personally, I am looking forward to reading about how all of this seismic, plate-tectonic-driven activity is caused by humanity.
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