Week 5- Volcanoes

To my surprise, there is a very active volcano in Colima, Mexico. Colima volcano, also known as "Volcan de Fuego",  is one of the most active in North America and one of the potentially most dangerous ones.  Despite its' name, only a fraction of the volcano is located in the state of Colima, majority of it lies over the border in the neighboring state of Jalisco, toward the western end of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It has had more than 30 periods of eruptions since 1585, including several significant eruptions in the late 1990's. Scientific monitoring of the volcano began 20 years ago. Eruptions have occurred in 1991, 1998-1999, and from 2001 to present day. Largest eruption occurred on May 25th, 2005. An ash cloud rose to more than 3 kilometers over the volcano, and a satellite monitor showed that the cloud spread for more than 100 kilometers west of the volcano.

There have been many incidents of eruptions from this volcano. Sadly, on November 5, 2014, the volcano erupted again! An ash column was sent 5 km into the air, covering towns as far as 25 km away in ash. However, no evacuation took place. On July 10 2015, there was another eruption. The most recent volcanic eruption occured a little over a moth ago, on January 15th 2017. The eruption spewed volcanic ash 4m into the air.

The volcano is currently being monitored by the Colima Volcano Observatory at the University of Colima, Mexico. A team interprets, analyzes, and communicates everything that happens. Last year, a webcam was installed close to the volcano so they can see the activity in real time.

Here are some pictures:

 
 


References:

https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/colima/news.html

http://www.webcamsdemexico.com/webcam-volcan-de-colima.html