Vikings Volcanic Activity Thread

[Mondy]

Hey Viking. Just been reading about it on the BBC website.

[flagpole]

Link for those who haven't seen it :lol:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6401701.stm

[Guest Viking141]

STROMBOLI ERUPTS - LATEST INFORMATION

According to latest reports, two new craters have opened at the summit of Stromboli and started to spew lava. One lava stream has already started flowing into the sea.

Civil Defence Authorities have began "emergency procedures" and Italian Coastguard vessels have been deployed in the area.

At the moment there are no plans to evacuate the islands population of 750 but the situation is being monitored closely.

More to follow when I have it.

[Guest Viking141]

OK cant get into the Stromboli webcams at the moment as, understandably, they seem to be snowed under. Will continue to hunt around and see what I can find.

[summer blizzard]

Very exiting news, given that the lava flows are rare from Stromboli, i would say that this could be a VEI2 eruption

[Guest Viking141]

Indeed so SB. Some background info on Stromboli.

Stromboli, which lies in the Aeolian Sea between Sicily and the Italian mainland, has been erupting gently for milennia. In the main, however, her eruptions tends to be of the "Strombolian" type, i.e. a pool of lava bubbles away in the main crater, rather like a pan of boiling water. Most of this activity remains within the crater and poses no danger.Most days she gets a bit more energetic for a while and shoots fountains of lava between 100-300 ft into the air and drops lava bombs on the craters edge. Every now and again, however, she throws a major hissy fit and sends voluminous lava flows down the flanks. The last time she did this was in 2002 and the sheer volume of lava flowing into the sea caused a flank collapse which led to a minor tsunami.

OK, not visually very stunning but the Stromboli seismic data is easily accessible at the link below:

Stromboli seismic data

Click on "sismicita" and then "segnali in tempo reale"

On this page click on the link that reads "Stromboli-segnali sismici della rete a larga banda" and this will take you to the Stromboli data readout.

As can be seen quite a lot of seismic activity and it seems to be continuing.

Edited February 27, 2007 by Viking141

[summer blizzard]

From the graph, it looked as though the eruption may still be getting stronger, what i would really like to see is a large earthquake, to indicate the possibility of trapped magma and a larger eruption.

[Guest Viking141]

From the graph, it looked as though the eruption may still be getting stronger, what i would really like to see is a large earthquake, to indicate the possibility of trapped magma and a larger eruption.

Agreed SB it does appear to be getting stronger and more prolonged especially if you compare the most recent four hour slot with the previous ones.

[flagpole]

Agreed SB it does appear to be getting stronger and more prolonged especially if you compare the most recent four hour slot with the previous ones.

It's just constant at the minute isn't it? :lol:

[Guest Viking141]

It's just constant at the minute isn't it? :lol:

Yup. Non-stop. Quite a big jump there a couple of minutes ago! I believe this constant seismic activity is whats called "Harmonic Tremor."

Edited February 27, 2007 by Viking141

[summer blizzard]

It's just constant at the minute isn't it? :lol:

It does appaear to be getting slightly stronger, indicating that the eruption will continue to incease in severity.

[jonboy]

Yup. Non-stop. Quite a big jump there a couple of minutes ago! I believe this constant seismic activity is whats called "Harmonic Tremor."

If this was to turn into a major eruption what sought of scale are we talking about and therefore likely impact?

Jon

[summer blizzard]

Viking, were there any signs that Stromboli was going to erupt and also, what effect do you think this eruption may have on Etna/Vesuvius.????????

If this was to turn into a major eruption what sought of scale are we talking about and therefore likely impact?

Jon

At the moment, this is not an explosive eruption, with only 750 residents, i doubt that this eruption will be considered famous.

[Guest Viking141]

Viking, were there any signs that Stromboli was going to erupt and also, what effect do you think this eruption may have on Etna/Vesuvius.????????

One step ahead of you there mate!! Ive already checked the seimographs for Vesuvius, Etna and the Campi Flegrei area and at the moment there is no evidence of any "knock-on" effect. However, these things can take a bit of time to work their way through the geology of the region so I would hold fire on that for a few days to see what happens.

There was no real warning according to any of the websites I check that this was on the cards. As you said earlier, this sort of activity for Stromboli is uncommon and it just shows you no matter how clever we think we are, mother nature can still catch us unawares!

Wow! This seismic activity is getting really intense!

[Rustynailer]

Viking, do these strombolian type volcanoes ever have a caldera collapse big bang type eruption, or are they the just get old and die type?

Regards,

Russ

[Guest Viking141]

Viking, do these strombolian type volcanoes ever have a caldera collapse big bang type eruption, or are they the just get old and die type?

Regards,

Russ

Funny you should say that Russ, because it occurs to me that that would be the "worst case scenario"for Stromboli. Of major concern would be that if the eruption is strong enough it could open one of the volcanos flanks, allow ingress of sea-water and when the two mix we have a massive, phreatic explosion of the kind which destroyed Krakatau. Stromboli has had flank collapses in the past. The last major eruption of this kind in 2002 caused just that, which resulted in a minor tsunami. Not an event I would like to see but it is an outside possibility. One never knows with volcanos they are so unpredictable. Equally, of course, this could all suddenly quieten down and Stromboli would effectively "nod-off" again. BTW the siesmographs are going crazy!!

Edited February 27, 2007 by Viking141

[Rustynailer]

Oh dear, don't like the sound of that, i would be worried if i lived near the sea in the Med especially near by, even if it it just an "outside chance", i would have it on my mind. The tide going out too far and all that....

Thanks for letting me Know Viking.

Russ

[flagpole]

calming down again now :lol:

[summer blizzard]

This is all quite exciting, it is the first eruption that i have been monitering close up.

Has a plume been released from the volcano, and if so, to what height?????

If this eruption is going to last a while, look out for the next peak in activity after this trough, if the peak is even greater, then the eruption is strengthening.

Appaling, bothe BBC and ITV have not even commented on it.

[Rustynailer]

This is all quite exciting, it is the first eruption that i have been monitering close up.

Has a plume been released from the volcano, and if so, to what height?????

If this eruption is going to last a while, look out for the next peak in activity after this trough, if the peak is even greater, then the eruption is strengthening.

Appaling, bothe BBC and ITV have not even commented on it.

Might not have on TV but the BBC have on line:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6401701.stm

Russ

Sorry my smileys are malfunctioning, i seemed to have posted a closed eye smile, please disregard this.(deleted)

Apologies.

Russ

Edited February 27, 2007 by Rustynailer

[Guest Viking141]

calming down again now

Spoke too soon there Flaggles,starting to see Harmonic Tremor again!

This is all quite exciting, it is the first eruption that i have been monitering close up.

Has a plume been released from the volcano, and if so, to what height?????

If this eruption is going to last a while, look out for the next peak in activity after this trough, if the peak is even greater, then the eruption is strengthening.

Appaling, bothe BBC and ITV have not even commented on it.

Yes exciting stuff! Have checked with the Toulouse VAAC and there are no Volcanic Ash Advisories issued yet but this is early days. Many of the volcano websites I vist havent picked up on this yet either nor have the main news outlets such as Reuters, PA etc apart from the small mention on the BBC website. Im sure this will change especially if this eruption continues for any length of time.

Edited February 27, 2007 by Viking141

[Guest Viking141]

Major bummer, I now have to go and work!! Will keep an eye on things and will update if I can, depends on whether I have a busy night or not - the weather up here is foul - driving rain and gales.

Catch you all later hopefully!

Edited February 27, 2007 by Viking141

[Snowly does it]

Wow, hadn't spotted this till just now, one to keep a close eye on!

Did that Iberian Earthquake have any link in with this?

And is there any more from that Colombian volcano??

[Rustynailer]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recent.../us2007zhav.php

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recent.../us2007zhas.php

Just noticed Iceland this morning.

Is this significant Volcanism wise or is it the sort of thing that's run of the mill? I hope its the latter of course.

Thousands of people live in Reykjavik.

Sorry for the bombardment of questions Viking, just very interested

Russ

[Gray-Wolf]

We were a wondering over on the 'Spanish Earthquake' thread as to whether there were elevated numbers of quakes along the African/Eurasian plates so maybe there is and we're due a lurch. Bet they're getting jittery in Istanbul !