Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Ecuador 2006
A friend from Ecuador (Esthella) called me tonite and left a message warning me about a volcano that has just recently (06/27/2006) begun to spew ash. This volcano is near Banos, one of my favorite places, so hopefully this won't prevent us from visiting in the upcoming weeks. It's actually a volcano that we bought tickets to drive up in a bus and look inside last summer! Guess we will have to wait and see whats going on when we get there! I posted a satellite image under the "photo albums" section. It's pretty amazing.
*~Kimmy~*
________________________________________________
Tungurahua volcano towers over the town [of Banos] lying around 8 km from the crater. After 8 decades of being dormant in 1999 the area had to be completely evacuated due to the promise of a major eruption in Oct-Dec of that year. During this time the volcano spewed ash and began steaming however, by October of 2000 most residents had moved back to their homes and the tourists began venturing back to this delightful spot as the Ambato-Baños-Puyo road was reopened to traffic and the military activity control diminished despite scientists reports that activity had not disappeared completely.
Life therefore returned to normal here but the Volcanologists are still there monitoring daily activity and so it is still recommended to check with for example the Geophysics Institute who puts daily activity reports on the web at www.epn.edu.ec, or the local newspapers beforehand. Other risk areas surrounding its neighbor town would be the Bascún valley and the Rio Ulba valley east side of Baños.
-- http://www.thebestofecuador.com/banos.htm
________________________________________________
As of the 27th of June [2006], the Instituto Geofisico (IG), after being translated from Spanish, reports that early in the day, ash could not be seen in multi-spectral imagery. An occasional hotspot is visible. Due to darkness and clouds no ash detected. A hotspot is occasionally detected. Any ash will be moving west from the volcano. In visible imagery there are clouds over the region however a faint indication of a plume could be seen moving west around 23 mi from the volcano. The seismic data is not very strong so the plume is mostly likely gases and only a little ash that will fall out near the summit. Little change in direction is forecast. The internal seismic activity of the volcano continues in a level moderate to high. They have been able to detect in the seismometers a few explosions that by their characteristics are considered as of moderate character. The external demonstrations were characterised for continuous emissions of steam and gases with little content of ash, presence of incandescence, and the generation of intensity variable roars.
Nevertheless, it is necessary that the population be maintained attentive to the reports that are given by the authorized media because the activity of the volcano is changing and/or by the mud flows generation in the event that the climatic conditions be favourable for the development of these. With respect to seismic activity, a total of 16 explosions were counted and 27 events of long period, the tremor of emission is constant and is related to the roars that were heard. During the afternoon of yesterday a steam emission column could be observed and gases with low ash load, that reached approximately 1 km of height and was directed toward the southwest; associate with this activity was reported the generation of roars of various intensity. In hours at night the low to moderate intensity shine presence was reported besides. During the morning and late of today, the zone of the volcano presents high cloudiness; nevertheless, has managed to observe on the clouds the presence of a constant column of emission with low ash load of approximately 500 m and direction of movement toward the West. Additionally in hours of the morning one could listen to the generation of sporadic roars.
Tungurahua, a steep-sided andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano that towers more than 3 km above its northern base, is one of Ecuador's most active volcanoes. Three major volcanic edifices have been sequentially constructed since the mid-Pleistocene over a basement of metamorphic rocks. Tungurahua II was built within the past 14,000 years following the collapse of the initial edifice. Tungurahua II itself collapsed about 3000 years ago and produced a large debris-avalanche deposit and a horseshoe-shaped caldera open to the west, inside which the modern glacier-capped stratovolcano (Tungurahua III) was constructed. Historical eruptions have all originated from the summit crater. They have been accompanied by strong explosions and sometimes by pyroclastic flows and lava flows that reached populated areas at the volcano's base. Prior to a long-term eruption beginning in 1995 that caused the temporary evacuation of the city of Baños at the foot of the volcano, the last major eruption had occurred from 1916 to 1918, although minor activity continued until 1925.
The Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador was correctly forecasted by ERUPTION Pro 10.6 to erupt in 2006 with >82.71% probability.
-- http://www.swvrc.org/cerupt.htm
________________________________________________
- comments