Friday Eruption Update for September 23, 2011: Cleveland, El Hierro, Etna and more

Quick update for late on Friday – much more to say on Monday. I promise. Really.

Anyway, some brief news:

Alaska: The dome is continuing to grow at Cleveland in Alaska – and we now have some images of the dome growing in the crater (see top left). Right now the concern is what happens if/when the dome grows large enough to spill out the crater. The likely result is the generation of block-and-ash flows as the dome collapses gravitationally. If that happens, there might be more explosive eruptions that accompany the collapse as the pressure is released on the vent. Needless to say, AVO is keeping a close watch on the growth of the dome.

Global Volcanism Program: If you really want to catch up on this week’s volcano news, be sure to check out the new USGS/Smithsonian GVP Weekly Volcanic Activity. It does have updates from places like Bezymianny, Sakurajima and Fuego.

Canary Islands: The local authorities at El Hierro have raised the alert status to yellow based on increased seismicity – both in terms of number of earthquakes and intensity, some earthquakes as large as M3. This new level of alert (spanish) means that the government of the island will release regular updates on the activity and make sure that appropriate emergency measures are in place.

Odds and ends: Looks like there has been a lot of activity at Pu`u O`o on Kilaeau this week – check out Hawaii 24/7‘s update on all the activity that has images and video. Etna also experienced another paroxysm on Monday – the 14th of the year – and INGV has some information on it. Finally, although the alert status at Taal might have been lowered, there is still some low level seismicity at the Philippine caldera as well, but much like Mayon and Bulusan, none of the earthquakes seem to suggest eruptions are imminent.