UPDATE 10.9.08: This photo is not from the current eruption (see the comments below), so disregard any comments I might have about the current state of activity.
Contrary to some of the earlier reports, the eruption at Soputan in Indonesia might be more impressive than previously though. Pictures of the eruption (above) show a fairly healthy eruption column coming from the volcano, although it is hard to tell if the image is just an eruption column or a column with an associated column-collapse pyroclastic flow heading down the far side of the volcano (in the picture). The former would imply a vigorous supply of gas-rich magma, the latter might imply less magma in the conduit with an eruption rate less than is needed to support the ash column. In any case, Indonesia officials are evacuating a 4-km radius from the volcano as it continues to erupt.
8 responses to “Impressive eruption at Soputan?”
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Correction – it seems Soputan is on orange alert, the second-highest alert level: http://portal.vsi.esdm.go.id/joomla/
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The picture shown is of the eruption that took place in June 2008, not the current activity. See:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fIOf7Y1qF2qF
It’s a reprehensible but common practice in the general media to use file photographs of former eruptions to illustrate reports on volcanoes, without making the date of the picture clear. One eruption is as good as another, apparently.
Soputan is still on a yellow alert and there is no mandatory evacuation, so it seems that the present eruption is fairly low-key. -
I thought I had seen that image before. Apparently it is from the eruption in June
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0fIOf7Y1qF2qF/340x.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fIOf7Y1qF2qF&h=469&w=340&sz=43&hl=en&start=41&um=1&usg=__WDUqhKCer4M9kKzrjBG57fltN5A=&tbnid=v1jv2t_1fnHwFM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsoputan%26start%3D36%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLD%26sa%3DN
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