February
February brought fresh seismicity to two areas that got people’s attention – the Taal caldera in the Philippines and Vatnajökull in Iceland. Only one lead to an eruption this year, which shows how difficult it can be to make predictions of volcanic activity based on the hints a volcano can provide, like seismicity or gas emissions. Eruptions continued at Kirishima, we saw evidence for dome growth at Colombia’s Huila (see above) and we saw activity at Kilauea (including a lava lake highstand) while new eruptions occurred at Bulusan in the Philippines and Indonesia’s Lokon-Empung and we saw the bubbling at Dallol in Africa. We looked at the 1886 eruption of Tarawera in New Zealand after the famed Pink Terraces were rediscovered, while the south island suffered another significant earthquake in Christchurch. I also examined the potential of power generation from magma and the sensationalism of scientific research concerning Mt. Baker in Washington. And Etna erupted.
Image: Dome growth at Huila in Colombia in early February 2011. Image courtesy of INGEOMINAS.