Friday, October 13, 2017

"Sumatra’s Mount Sinabung erupts shooting ash 2,000 meters into the sky, as all eyes on Bali’s Mount Agung"

On September 28 I noted in passing:
There are actually three major volcanoes set to erupt in the Pacific but for now Bali and Vanuatu are more news/insurance-worthy....
Sinabung is the third volcano. The reason the others—which haven't yet gone off—are more newsworthy is that, since it came roaring back to life in 2010 Sinabung has been one of the most active volcanoes in the world, sort of the Mt. Etna of the Pacific.

We've been following the Sumatran action not so much because it is impressive, which it is:

A woman carries her daughter in a nearby field as Mount Sinabung spews pyroclastic ash and debris on 
January 4, 2014 in Karo District, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images
but because it's only 25 miles from the Toba supervolcano. Now, as it turns out the magma chambers of the two are connected underground.
Here's the latest from Coconuts News, Bali edition:
While everyone is busy worrying about an eruption threat from Bali’s Mount Agung, Mount Sinabung in Sumatra erupted this week and has been regularly erupting for years.

Although the volcano has certainly proved itself to be one of Indonesia’s most dangerous throughout history, Sinabung’s eruption on 2:45am, Thursday morning did not cause any casualties, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

“People are accustomed to seeing the eruption of Mount Sinabung because since it was set to alert status on June 2, 2015 almost every day there was an eruption,” said BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho in a press release. 

“Almost every day Mount Sinabung in Karo regency of North Sumatra province erupts, besides throwing volcanic ash, the eruption is also accompanied by earthquakes, red-hot lava and hot clouds,” he said.

The volcanic ash column from Sinabung’s eruption on Thursday was recorded as having a height of 2,000 meters, followed by a cloud of hot fall, sliding 1,500 meters to the south and 2,000 meters to the east-southeast. 

“The wind is blowing medium to east-southeast with a 366-second earthquake eruption,” Nugroho stated.

While an eruption just the day before, on Oct. 11 at 10:51pm sent a volcanic ash column up 1,5000 meters, an earthquake for 333 seconds of the eruption, and ash rain in some surrounding villages....MORE