Frantic volcanic activity
June 2016 – GEOLOGY – Several
volcanoes around the world were very active last week spewing enormous
amounts of ash and gas into the atmosphere and forcing thousands of
people to leave their homes. But it´s not all just about volcanic
activity, there has also been quite a bit of earthquake activity along
some the volcano impacted areas, especially in the Pacific Ring of Fire.
During the last 10 days close to 40
volcanoes worldwide have been showing signs of activity and great deal
of them, 34, are located along the very active Ring Fire. Considering
that in the 20th century the average number of volcanic eruptions was 35
per year, what we are seeing just this week is above last century´s
average for an entire year. This increasing volcanic activity around the
Ring of Fire is not new, the region is home to 452 volcanoes, 75% of
all earth’s, and geologists have been warning that this 25,000 mile
stretch of active and dormant volcanoes is becoming more unstable in
recent years.
During the weekend of May 21 and 22,
the northern skies of the Indonesian island of Sumatra were covered with
a thick black cloud of ash and gases resulting from the eruption of
Mount Sinabung, Indonesia’s most active volcano. Several cities in the
area were evacuated and in the village of Gembar, seven people lost
their lives, all of them farmers, after inhaling deadly gases. Sinabung
is one of the many active volcanoes in the island, and after showing
signs of activity back in early November of 2014, many residents in the
area were forced to relocate in other villages of northern Sumatra
located at a safer distance from the volcano.
Mount Sinabung continued to show signs
of activity late last week, and was still on the highest alert level
with potential for more eruptions. One of the most active has been
Turrialba in Costa Rica. The small Central America country has a dozen
active volcanoes and it is located close to the capital, San Jose.
Early last week, a prolonged and violent eruption dropped a significant
amount of ash over the city and nearby towns, forcing many people to
wear masks and in some cases evacuate entire neighborhoods. –Weather Network
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