Monday Musings: Hazard zones at Turrialba, Yellowstone earthquakes and more!

First off, I wanted to thank all of the Eruptions readers for making January the most popular month ever on this blog. I suppose I should give an assist to Yellowstone, but really, thanks for coming to the blog, reading the posts and engaging in all the great discussions that go on within its (cyber)walls.

nn

nKīlauea’s east rift zone eruption site. Image courtesy of the USGS/HVO.

nn

On to some news!

nn

n
• I suppose you’ve made the big time when you’re in the New York Times, and sure enough, the current Yellowstone earthquake swarm is in the Old Grey Lady. Nothing much new to read, but summarizes the current USGS and Utah stance on the current seismicity. The earthquakes continue to march along, but still at the same depth and location.n
• Now that Turrialba seems to have come back to life after over 100 years off, Costa Rican officials have outlined exactly where the risk lies around the volcano. They’ve divided the area around the volcano into zones of danger, with the immediate 2 km closest at the highest hazard, especially for ash and volcanic gases during this phreatic period of eruptions. The volcano currently sits at Yellow Alert status, 2nd on the 3-level alert system for volcanoes in Costa Rica.

n

• Here is a nice summary of the current activity at Kilauea as the volcano enters its 28th year of eruption. Most notable is, of course, the lava lake/river in the Halema`uma`u Crater.

n

• KVERT might be in trouble, but at least the NASA Earth Observatory can keep an eye on some of the volcanoes from space. This new view of Bezymianny shows how similar its crater is to Washington’s Mt. Saint Helens.n
• And leave it to our friends at Fox News to release an article on how to visit erupting volcanoes. I’m really not sure where they got the numbers for the opening paragraph and the article drifts off from volcanoes somewhere in the middle, but hey, if you wanted a list of fun places to visit, here it is.