New landmass about 100 metres across pops up above the waves near Iwoto island after eruptions began last month
Japan has gained another island to add to its already impressive collection, after an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200km (745 miles) south of Tokyo created a new landmass.
Experts said the tiny island emerged after a series of eruptions that began in October near Iwoto island, part of the Ogasawara island chain in the western Pacific.
Continue reading...Scientists say rise in seismic activity confirms south-west region is in buildup phase
A seismic swarm has hit the Reykjanes peninsula in south-west Iceland with more than 5,500 small earthquakes in the last three days, raising the prospect of a volcanic eruption.
Iceland, located between the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates, among the largest on the planet, is a seismic and volcanic hotspot as the two plates move in opposite directions.
Continue reading...University of Kentucky challenged computer scientists to reveal contents of carbonised papyrus, a ‘potential treasure trove for historians’
When the blast from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius reached Herculaneum in AD79, it burned hundreds of ancient scrolls to a crisp in the library of a luxury villa and buried the Roman town in ash and pumice.
The disaster appeared to have destroyed the scrolls for good, but nearly 2,000 years later researchers have extracted the first word from one of the texts, using artificial intelligence to peer deep inside the delicate, charred remains.
Continue reading...Evacuation plans being drafted after activity on Campi Flegrei field, which experts warned earlier in 2023 was in a dangerous state
Concern is mounting over the risk of an eruption on a sprawling volcanic area close to Naples after the area was struck by the strongest earthquake in 40 years.
Seismic activity on Campi Flegrei, a constellation of ancient volcanic craters, has intensified over the past year and especially in recent months, with more than 80 events occurring in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the biggest being a 4.2 magnitude quake.
Continue reading...White Island/Whakaari volcano exploded in 2019, prompting debate over natural hazard tourism
The landowners of a New Zealand volcano that fatally erupted in 2019 have rejected arguments from the country’s workplace safety regulator that they ultimately managed and controlled activities on the island and bore legal responsibility for whether visitors to it were safe.
When White Island/Whakaari exploded on 9 December 2019, 22 people were killed – 17 of them Australians – with 25 others injured. It prompted renewed debate about controls for natural hazard tourism in New Zealand.
Continue reading...US couple gives evidence to New Zealand court in case against island’s owners and tourism operators
An American couple who were badly burned when Whakaari/White Island erupted in December 2019, killing 22 of the 47 people in its crater, told a New Zealand court that neither their guides nor anyone else involved in their trip to the crater told them that such an event was likely – or even possible. Information about the dangers they faced on the island volcano was minimal, they said, and safety protections lax.
Evidence from Matthew Urey, 40, and Lauren Urey, 36, opened the prosecution’s case in the Auckland district court on Wednesday, beginning a lengthy trial for the island’s owners and other tourism companies involved in the ill-fated trip.
Continue reading...Eruption near Reykjavik follows week of small earthquakes in area, as authorities advise against travel to site
A volcano has erupted about 30km (19 miles) from Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, the country’s meteorological office has said, marking the third time in two years that lava has gushed out in the area.
“The eruption is taking place in a small depression just north of Litli Hrútur, from which smoke is escaping in a north-westerly direction,” the office said.
Continue reading...Ancient painting includes fruit that looks like a pineapple – although it is almost certainly something else
A striking still life fresco resembling a pizza has been found among the ruins of ancient Pompeii, although the dish seems to lack two essential ingredients – tomato and mozzarella – and includes an item that looks suspiciously like a pineapple.
The fresco, which dates back 2,000 years, emerged during excavations in the Regio IX area of Pompeii’s archaeological park, which is close to Naples, the birthplace of pizza. The painting was on a wall in what is believed to have been the hallway of a home that had a bakery in its annexe.
Continue reading...Over 13,000 people already evacuated but many more may have to leave if eruption turns violent
The Philippines’ most active volcano was spewing lava down its slopes on Monday, prompting officials to warn tens of thousands of villagers to be prepared to flee their homes if the gentle eruption turns into a powerful and life-threatening explosion.
More than 13,000 people have left the mostly poor farming communities within a 6km (3.7-mile) radius of Mount Mayon’s crater in mandatory evacuations since volcanic activity increased last week. But an unspecified number of people remain within the permanent danger zone below Mayon, an area long declared off-limits but where generations have lived and farmed because they had nowhere else to go.
Continue reading...Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) near Naples is now in ‘extremely dangerous’ state, say academic experts
Half a million people live on a sprawling volcano in Italy – and the risk of an eruption has never been greater, according to a study.
The Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) volcano may be less well-known than Vesuvius, but is “extremely dangerous”, study co-author Stefano Carlino told AFP.
Continue reading...Scientists calculate 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano released 1,000 times more energy than Hiroshima bomb
A huge underwater volcanic event in Tonga last year was of a magnitude comparable with the most powerful nuclear detonation by the US, researchers have revealed.
Scientists have used eye and earwitnesses accounts, along with data from tide gauges, satellites, evidence of broken windows and other sources, to calculate that the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which occurred on 15 January 2022 and was felt around the world, likely involved five blasts. The last of them released energy equivalent to about 15 megatonnes of TNT.
Continue reading...Global research teams who can improve AI and accelerate decoding could win $250,000 in prizes
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 laid waste to Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum where the intense blast of hot gas carbonised hundreds of ancient scrolls in the library of an enormous luxury villa.
Now, researchers are launching a global contest to read the charred papyri after demonstrating that an artificial intelligence programme can extract letters and symbols from high-resolution X-ray images of the fragile, unrolled documents.
Continue reading...Eruption causes roads to close after volcanic ash rains down on Java island
A volcano has erupted in Indonesia, spewing a cloud of ash 15km into the sky and forcing the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people, authorities have said, as they issued their highest warning for the area in the east of Java island.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties from the eruption of the Semeru volcano and Indonesia’s transport ministry said air travel was not affected but notices had been sent to two regional airports for them to be vigilant.
Continue reading...Officials warn lava advances could be highly variable over the coming days as flow crosses level ground
Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, that erupted last week for the first time in nearly four decades, continued to spew lava Saturday, though the flows have slowed to a crawl.
Fissure three in the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii remains active and is feeding a lava flow advancing at an average rate of 150 feet an hour over the past 24 hours. Fissurefour is “sluggish”, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said, while fissures one and two are no longer active.
Continue reading...For many, the lava flow is a time to pray, sing, dance and make offerings to Pele, the Hawaiian deity of volcanoes and fire
For many Hawaiians, lava flows are a time to honor, reflect.
Glowing lava from the world’s largest volcano is a sight to behold, but for some, Mauna Loa’s eruption is a time to pray, make offerings and honor both the natural and spiritual worlds.
Continue reading...Scientists scramble to re-establish the crucial monitoring that has been situated on the volcano since 1958
The world’s premier measurement site for global carbon dioxide levels has been shut down because of a volcanic eruption in Hawaii, with scientists scrambling to re-establish the crucial monitoring that has been situated on the volcano since 1958.
Lava has been shooting more than 150ft into the air from Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, since Sunday night and a river of molten rock is now not only menacing the main highway on Hawaii’s big island but also the Mauna Loa Observatory, a scientific station situated on the northern flank of the volcano.
Continue reading...Phenomenon at Lake Kivu happens when CO2 from volcanic activity leaks through cracks in the ground
The Swahili word mazuku means roughly “evil wind” and refers to a lethal phenomenon around Lake Kivu on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
Carbon dioxide from volcanic activity leaks from cracks in the ground. The gas is heavier than air and collects in hollows, cellars, and low-lying areas, forming invisible and sometimes deadly pools, especially on windless nights. High concentrations of CO2 produce dizziness, nausea, confusion and weakness. Unwary victims who do not leave immediately tend to collapse then die in the high concentration of gas close to the ground.
Continue reading...Man, 23, was trying to retrieve mobile phone and he and his family now face charges for entering forbidden area
An American tourist sustained minor injuries after he fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius as he scrambled to retrieve his phone.
The 23-year-old and his family reached the 1,281m-high (4,202ft) summit of the volcano towering over the southern Italian city of Naples after bypassing a visitor turnstile and proceeding along an out-of-bounds path.
Continue reading...Residents ordered to leave homes as ash and steam sent hundreds of metres into sky
Thousands of people fled their homes near a Philippine volcano after an eruption sent ash and steam hundreds of metres into the sky.
Taal volcano, which sits in a picturesque lake south of Manila, exploded with a “short-lived” burst at 7:22 am on Saturday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.
Continue reading...Lisala Folau, a survivor of the Tonga tsunami, spoke on Friday of being swept to sea from the island of Atata. 'The scariest part of the ordeal for me was when the waves took me from land into the sea,' he told Sky News. The 57-year-old was swept away by a tsunami generated by a volcanic eruption on 15 January.
Folau, a retired carpenter with a motion disability, managed to stay afloat for more than a day and make his way across the sea to the main island of Tongatapu. He said his faith in God and his family were the two things that occupied his thoughts while he was helpless at sea
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