59: New activity reported at Japan’s Satsuma-Iwo-jima (Kikai) volcano
June 7, 2013 - JAPAN - New activity seems to have started from Satsuma-Iwo-jima (Kikai) volcano. A steam-gas and possibly ash-containing plume has been observed on satellite images and a thermal anomaly was visible on recent MODIS satellite data. On yesterday morning’s NASA Aqua satellite image, the plume from the volcano was about 70 km long to the SW. A thermal anomaly was visible already on images from 23 May. Kikai south of Kyushu Island it is the northernmost of the volcanic Ryukyu island chain that stretches between Japan and Taiwan. The volcano has a very dangerous history- with a historical past eruption as large as Tambora. FLORES: Meanwhile, the alert level has been raised on the Kelimutu volcano in Flores. VSI raised the alert level of the volcano on Flores, famous for its 3 differently colored crater lakes, from 1 to 2 (“normal” to ‘waspada,’ ‘watch’) on a scaled of 1 to 4, after one of the 3 crater lakes turned from blue to white on 3 June. In addition, a strong smell of sulfur was noted by people from Pemo village a few kilometers south. The main risk in case of an eruption would be phreatic explosions, ash falls, and the possibly catastrophic draining of the lake(s) potentially causing large lahars and floods threatening nearby communities near and inside the valleys radiating from the volcano.