Eruption Update for April 15, 2014: Tungurahua, Momotombo, Ubinas and Nyamuragira

Ubinas erupting on April 14, 2014. Image: webcam capture via INGEMMET. Hard to believe that April is half over. For me, it is equally hard to believe that we got ~1 inch of snow overnight here in central Ohio when it was 77F on Sunday. Updates on some volcanic activity (and one eruption that isn't happening): Perú Explosive activity continues at Perú's Ubinas as well. A state of emergency has been declared for the region around the volcano due to the ash emissions. You can check out some time-lapse video of the eruptions taken from the INGEMMET webcam. This declaration will allow for government assistance for evacuation of both people and livestock, which are economically important for the region. There is some speculation that recent explosions (video as well) over the past day at Ubinas may have destroyed the small lava dome in the summit crater, but this has not been confirmed. The ash fall has only been a few millimeters in most locations and the ash plume has been mainly up to 2 km above the volcano. Depending on conditions, you can check out the Ubinas webcam and webicorder and you can read all the details (with lots of pictures and graphs) in the latest INGEMMET report. Ecuador Activity at Tungurahua remains high as it has been for much of the spring. Alternately strombolian activity and moderate explosions have been occurring on the volcano. Some of these explosions have been sizable enough to shatter windows in towns around Tungurahua. This latest explosion didn't produce as an impressive ash plume as the February 1, 2014 eruption from this year, although it did reach as high as 14 km. You can check out some Tungurahua webcams here. Nicaragua After the series of earthquakes around Nicaragua over the past week, there are fears that some of the volcanoes in the country may be stirring -- however, this is likely more fears than actual activity. The recent earthquaked were centered near Momotombo, located along the shores of Lake Managua and close to the capital city of Nicaragua, which has lead to speculation that the earthquakes and its aftershocks will stir the volcano back into activity. I haven't found any information to support this beyond speculation by Wilfried Strauch of the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER). You can look at the current seismicity near Momotombo by checking MOMN. Congo Over the weekend, there were rumors of an eruption at Nyamuragira in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, there has been no confirmation of this eruption and Simon Carn said that likely no eruption occurred based on satellite-measured sulfur dioxide. Measurements of sulfur dioxide at Nyamuragira have been up over the last week, which does suggest an eruption might be in the works as new magma intrudes and degassing at the volcano.