A spectacular video has emerged showing Mount Etna firing hot lava and ash into the sky.

Europe’s highest and most active volcano on the southern Italian island of Sicily erupted for the fifth time this year on Sunday.

Molten lava poured down Etna’s slopes on during the eruption, which lasted an-hour-and-a-half.

Ash landed close to villages at the foot of the volcano but no damage was reported. The eruption did not cause any interruption to air traffic

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/mount-etna-erupts--amazing-video-captures-moment-volcano-blew-its-top.html

Interesting comments here from http://earthquake-report...ert-increased-to-yellow/ regarding El Hierro

Joke wrote an Email to chief scientist Ramon Ortiz (advisor IGN, researcher CSIC and sometimes spokesperson in Pevolca on scientific issues) asking him how possibly the Sumatra earthquake could influence the El Hierro eruption effects (a stain was observed after the arrival of the earthquake waves at El Hierro). This is Mr. Ortiz answer :

“Cuando hay un terremoto tan grande como los del dia 11 y 12 (8.6 y 8.2 en Sumatra y 6.9 en Baja California), las ondas sismicas recorren varias veces el planta y al atravesar los sistemas magmaticos producen una liberacion de gas (disfusion rectificada) que en algunos casos puede llegar a disparar un erupcion, aunque en general solo producen mayor emision de gas (similar a cuando se agita una botella de Cava) y por eso aumento la emision de gas en la restinga y aparecio la mancha”

Translation
“When an earthquake as large as those on April 11 and April 12 occur (8.6 and 8.2 in Sumatra and 6.9 in Baja California), seismic waves travel several times through the earth and magmatic systems produce a release of gas (disfusion rectificada) that in some cases can trigger an eruption (…), although in general only produce a greater emission of gas (similar to when you shake a bottle of Cava (Spanish Champagne)) and thus the increase the emission of gas in La Restinga and a stain appeared”


I also found this link on the same site showing a timelapse of Etna http://www.youtube.com/w...RYM&feature=youtu.be

Article in The Telegraph pointing to the increased signs of a potential eruption from the Katla caldera in Iceland.

There are signs of high activity beneath the Katla caldera in Iceland – a possible sign of an impending eruption. This should prompt extensive high-level contingency planning across Europe, as Katla has the potential to be much more damaging than Eyjafjallajökull was.

On average the volcano has erupted every 60 years, but the last eruption was in 1918.

Last July, a flood of water burst from beneath the ice cap on top of Katla, washing away a bridge. This indicates that an extra pulse of heat reached the base of the ice. Since then, there have been erratic movements of the surface of the volcano, measured by precise GPS instruments, and bursts of high earthquake activity beneath Katla’s caldera. These observations imply that magma has risen to shallower depths.

Katla’s eruption in 1918 produced five times as much ash as the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull one. A major eruption could result in large parts of Iceland being flooded as snow and ice melted; significant poisoning of Icelandic agriculture; destruction of property; and, of course, the grounding of aircraft across Europe.

If enough material is ejected it could even have a cooling effect on the global climate for a few years. A precedent for that would be the 1783-84 eruption from the fissure of Laki, which is part of the same volcanic system, Grímsvötn, that erupted last year. This was a very large eruption of 15 cubic kilometres (3.6 cubic miles), compared to the fraction of a cubic kilometre ejected in 2010, and had a huge impact on the northern hemisphere, reducing temperatures by up to 3 C. This had catastrophic effects far beyond the shores of Iceland (where at least a fifth of the population died), with thousands of recorded deaths in Britain due to poisoning and extreme cold, and record low rainfall in North Africa.

Large eruptions such as this occur only every few hundred years on Iceland, but the potential for danger is significant. Even if deaths from famine are less likely today, a recent study of the potential effects of the air pollution caused by such an eruption estimates that it could lead to between 52,000 and 228,000 fatalities throughout Europe.

 

Full article here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/9195178/Iceland-volcano-and-you-thought-the-last-eruption-was-bad....html

 

However Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano, which lies some 50 miles (80 km) to the southeast of Mexico City has started showing signs of life.

The volcano's lava dome started to expand on Friday, suggesting fresh magma may be pushing upwards. It spewed red-hot fragments and lightly dusted cars and streets in some small towns in the state of Puebla.

Schools in at least five small towns near the volcano called off classes after Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention raised the alert level for the 5,450-meter (17,900-foot) Popocatepetl late on Monday.

 

 

A new risk map that reveals the hazards most likely to occur in the future on Popocatepetl, considered the planet's riskiest volcano -- has been developed by the University at Buffalo volcanologist Michael F. Sheridan, Ph.D., and colleagues at UB and the National University of Mexico (UNAM).

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/hires/popohazvert.jpg

Thanks for this

or there's the list of "decade volcanos".

To be fair, it did actually erupt in 2011 but it was apparently so small that almost no-one noticed. As you suggest not the cataclysmic event that some areas of the media were suggesting. I have a hunch Katla will probably erupt "properly" within the next 5 to 10 years as it is slowly bundling up to that IMO.

Enjoy your holiday!

The excellent "Eruptions blog" puts the volcanic hazard discussion into context...location, location, location.

http://www.wired.com/wir...ut-location/#more-106947

I see that Popocatepetl has been rumbling and pumping out ash again today (from 60 openings apparently!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17793797

 

Edit: It looks even more active today and more residents in the area are being evacuated. To me the data suggest a large eruption may be likely/imminent.

Edited by user 21 April 2012 12:54:43(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Popo is still erupting and for those interested Katla may boffering up for an eruption of some sorts in the very near future. Certainly worth keeping an eye on.

Edited by user 13 May 2012 12:07:04(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Katla looking rather unsettled this evening from a brief glance at the earthquake page:

 

http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/myrdalsjokull/#view=map