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SI/USGS Weekly Volcano Activity Report for 7/8-14/2009

The weekly USGS/SI volcano report is out, with some eyewitness description of the recent eruption in Ethiopia, Shishaldin in the Aleutians going on Yellow Alert and two volcanoes in Guatemala making noise.
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Your weekly dose of volcanism from the USGS/Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.

Highlights (not counting Mayon), include:

  • The activity at Mando Hararo in Ethiopia appears to be a fissure eruption. Ground observations saw a 4-5 kilometers / ~2.5-3 mile fissure with new predominantly ‘a’a lava flows that were 2-3 m thick … the fissure was lined with scoria ramparts 30-50 m high. They did not see any active lava, though.
  • As some Eruptions readers have pointed out from the OMI SO2 maps, Sarychev Peak (Russia) is still producing gas-and-steam (with some ash) plumes, mostly drifting off to the east of the volcano.
  • Shishaldin in the Aleutians saw its Alert status changed to Yellow/Advisory by AVO. A thermal anomaly seen via satellite in the crater has been growing more intense recently. The anomaly was first noticed in January of 2009. The volcano last erupted in 2004.
  • Explosions and 4-4.5 km / 13,500-15,000 foot ash columns were produced at Fuego in Guatemala. There was also some incandescent ejecta spotted being thrown 75 m / ~250 feet from the crater.
  • Shiveluch in Kamchatka (Russia) continues to rumble, with gas-and-steam plumes with ash produced by explosions reaching as high ~5.3 km / 13,400 feet.

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