Tag Archives: QUAK

World

Indonesia bolsters recovery efforts after volcano kills 34

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JAKARTA, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised on Tuesday to bolster evacuation efforts and repair damaged homes after visiting the site of a volcanic eruption on Java that has killed at least 34 people.

The 3,676-metre Mt. Semeru volcano erupted on Saturday sending a cloud of ash into the sky and dangerous pyroclastic flows into villages below. L1N2SP05Y

Thousands of people have been displaced and 22 remain missing, according to the disaster mitigation agency.

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After visiting evacuation centres and surveying the area by helicopter – getting an aerial view of villages submerged in molten ash – the president said recovery efforts would be bolstered now and in the months ahead.

“I came to the site to ensure that we have the forces to locate the victims,” said the president, speaking from Sumberwuluh, one of the worst-hit areas.

A man with an umbrella walks amongst damaged houses looking for his goat in an area affected by the eruption of Mount Semeru volcano in Curah Kobokan, Pronojiwo district, Lumajang, Indonesia, December 6, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

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“We hope that after everything has subsided, that everything can start – fixing infrastructure or even relocating those from the places we predict are too dangerous to return to.”

At least 2,000 homes would need to be relocated to safer areas, he said.

Search and rescue efforts continued on Tuesday but have been hampered by wind and rain, and limited equipment in some areas.

Mt. Semeru erupted three times on Tuesday. Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said on Monday there was potential for further flows of hot gas, ash and rocks.

Mt. Semeru is one of more than 100 active volcanoes in Indonesia, in an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates known as the “Pacific Ring of Fire”.

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Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Janet Lawrence

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World

Japanese volcano spews plumes of ash, people warned away

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TOKYO, Oct 20 (Reuters) – A volcano erupted in Japan on Wednesday, blasting ash several miles into the sky and prompting officials to warn against the threat of lava flows and falling rocks, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Mount Aso, a tourist destination on the main southern island of Kyushu, sent plumes of ash 3.5 km (2.2 miles) high when it erupted at about 11:43 a.m. (0243 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

It raised the alert level for the volcano to 3 on a scale of 5, telling people not to approach, and warned of a risk of large falling rocks and pyroclastic flows within a radius of about 1 km (0.6 mile) around the mountain’s Nakadake crater.

The government is checking to determine the status of a number of climbers on the mountain at the time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters, but added that there were no reports of casualties.

Television networks broadcast images of a dark cloud of ash looming over the volcano that swiftly obscured large swathes of the mountain.

Ash falls from the 1,592-metre (5,222-foot) mountain in the prefecture of Kumamoto are expected to shower nearby towns until late afternoon, the weather agency added.

Mount Aso had a small eruption in 2019, while Japan’s worst volcanic disaster in nearly 90 years killed 63 people on Mount Ontake in September 2014.

Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

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World

Volcanic lava in Spain’s La Palma engulfs more houses

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LA PALMA, Spain, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Buildings near the volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma were engulfed by rivers of lava early on Saturday, with the drama of the red-hot eruption intensified by the spectacle of flashes of lightning.

The magma destroyed at least four buildings in the village of Callejon de la Gata, Reuters witnesses said.

There were a series of 37 seismic movements on Saturday, with the largest measuring 4.1, the Spanish National Geological Institute said.

The Cumbre Vieja volcano began erupting on Sept. 19 and has destroyed more than 800 buildings and forced the evacuation of about 6,000 people from their homes on the island. La Palma, with a population of about 83,000, is one of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.

Lightning flashes were seen near the eruption early on Saturday. A study published in 2016 by the journal Geophysical Research Letters found lightning can be produced during volcanic eruptions because the collision of ash particles creates an electrical charge.

The lava from the volcano has engulfed over 150 hectares (370 acres) of farm land, most of it used for the cultivation of bananas that are one of the main crops on the island.

Airlines flying to the Canary Islands were advised to load extra fuel in case planes had to change course or delay landing because of ash, said a spokesman for Enaire, which controls the navigation in Spanish airspace.

La Palma’s airport has been closed since Thursday because of ash, Spanish air traffic operator Aena (AENA.MC) said. read more but the other airports in the archipelago remained open.

Reporting by Silvio Castellanos, Juan Medina, Graham Keeley; editing by Frances Kerry and Jason Neely

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World

Canaries volcano lava gushes towards sea, eruption goes on

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LA PALMA, Spain, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Lava poured from an erupting volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma for a fourth day on Wednesday, blanketing houses and fields, a day after people with homes on the path of the molten rock were allowed back briefly to recover belongings.

Towers of magma burst high into the air overnight, painting the night sky red and spraying fiery debris onto the flanks of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Drone footage earlier showed lava flowing westwards to the coast in three huge tongues, incinerating everything in their path, including a school.

During the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, the Canary Islands’ vulcanology institute said the amplitude of the volcano’s seismic activity intensified.

That seismic activity is “an indicator of the intensity of the strombolian explosive activity,” the institute said late on Tuesday. Strombolian is an adjective describing volcanic eruptions with violent explosions ejecting incandescent dust.

The report was issued as the lava pouring from the flanks of the volcano had spread to cover 154 hectares (0.59 square mile) in the towns of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane, according to Copernicus Emergency Management Service.

The unstoppable lava has been slowly burning and covering houses as well as fields since the Cumbre Vieja volcano has erupted on Sunday afternoon.

About 6,000 people of the 80,000 people living on the island have been evacuated since Sunday and those living on the path of the lava were allowed back into their homes for brief moments to recover belongings.

No fatalities or injuries have been reported, but drone footage captured two tongues of black lava cutting a devastating swathe through the landscape as they advanced down the volcano’s western flank towards the sea.

Experts say that if and when the lava reaches the sea, it could trigger more explosions and clouds of toxic gases. Marine authorities are keeping a two nautical mile area in the sea around the area closed as a precaution.

The lava flow was initially expected to reach the shore on Monday evening, but its speed has fallen.

Reporting by Borja Suarez, Marco Trujillo, Nacho Doce and Inti Landauro, Editing by William Maclean

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World

Volcano erupts on La Palma in Spanish Canary Islands

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LA PALMA, Spain, Sept 19 (Reuters) – A volcano erupted on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma on Sunday, sending a plume of smoke and ash into the air from the Cumbre Vieja national park in the south of the island.

Authorities had already begun evacuating the infirm and some farm animals from the surrounding villages before the eruption, which took place in the Cabeza de Vaca in El Paso at 3:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), according to the Canary Islands government.

There had been more than 22,000 tremors this week in the area, one of the most active volcanoes in the Canary Islands.

Luis Perez, a resident of El Paso, prepares a suitcase with his clothes and necessary things to leave his house in case of an emergency, on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain, September 19, 2021. REUTERS/Borja Suarez

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Soldiers were deployed to help with the evacuation, the defence ministry said, and it is expected that more residents will be evacuated from surrounding towns.

Ahead of the eruption, scientists had recorded a series of earthquakes reaching 3.8 magnitude in the national park , according to the Spanish National Geographical Institute (ING).

The earliest recorded volcanic eruption in La Palma took place in 1430, according to the ING. In the last eruption in 1971, one man was killed when he took photographs near the lava flows but no property was damaged.

Reporting by Graham Keeley; additional reporting Borja Suarez; Editing by Toby Chopra

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World

China launches emergency response after quake kills at least three

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Sept 16 (Reuters) – China launched an emergency response on Thursday after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted the southwestern province of Sichuan killing at least three people, state media reported.

Sichuan’s earthquake relief headquarters activated a level-II response, the Xinhua news agency reported, the second-highest in China’s four-tier emergency response system.

Luzhou City launched a level-I emergency response.

The China Earthquake Networks Center said the epicentre of the earthquake was 29.2 degrees north latitude and 105.34 degrees east longitude. It struck at a depth of 10 km (6 miles) at 4:33 a.m. (2033 GMT).

As well as at least three people killed, tens of people suffered light injuries, media reported.

Reporting by Engen Tham in Shanghai and Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates

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World

Quake of magnitude 6 strikes India’s Assam, damages some buildings

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An earthquake of magnitude 6 struck India’s rugged northeastern state of Assam on Wednesday, causing cracks in the walls and floors of some structures, but no immediate casualties were reported.

The quake hit at a depth of 34 km (21 miles) near the town of Dhekiajuli, 140 km (86 miles) north of the main city of Guwahati, the United States Geological Survey said.

“This earthquake was the biggest I can remember, there was first a big jolt and then a smaller one,” said a police official in the town. “We did not receive any distress calls, but people did run out of their homes.”

People streamed into the streets for fear of fresh tremors, with some saying the quake left cracks in their homes.

“Our entire multi-storied apartment has witnessed massive damage with roofs and walls caving in,” said Subham Hazarika, a businessman living in an upmarket apartment in Guwahati. “Luckily no one got injured.”

Strong tremors repeatedly struck other northeastern areas and the neighbouring mountainous region of Bhutan.

“We don’t have reports of any casualties but we are seeing images and visuals of extensive damage,” Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told Reuters.

Earlier, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) had put the quake’s magnitude at 6.2.

India’s disaster management officials were assessing reports of destruction and casualties, said one of the officials, who sought anonymity.

“I pray for the well-being of all and urge everyone to stay alert,” Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told Reuters television partner ANI.

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