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Map of today’s active volcanoes

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Last night’s eruptive episode of tall lava fountains, known as paroxysm, turned out to be one of the most impressive and powerful in recent years. Not only did it produce higher fire fountains than usually, but also it lasted longer than most other paroxysms.
Around 10:30 p.m. local time, volcanic tremor and strombolian activity from the New SE crater began to increase drastically. Half an hour later, a first lava flow started to descend from the eastern summit vent of the crater, and activity continued to increase, soon forming fountains of a few hundred meters tall.
… [read more]
…20 Feb:
The 4th paroxysm within little more than 4 days is occurring at the time of this update! Starting in the evening of 20 Feb 2021, the explosive activity at the New SE crater gradually increased and developed into sustained lava fountains now approx. 300 m tall, and still rising.
A lava flow has started to descend towards the Valle del Bove and although obscured by the night, a tall ash and steam plume is rising above the summit region of the volcano. As spectacular as it looks, these eruptions pose no threat to inhabited areas, although the ash plumes can be dangerous to aircraft and the lapilli and ash falls are a (rather common) nuisance to the downwind areas around the volcano.
… [read more]

Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): A new eruption started at the volcano very recently, this time not from the summit vent, but a fissure at the northwestern flank at relatively low altitude of 2500-2700 m above sea level.
Since the end of the impressive lava flow from the summit crater, which had been active for several months, but ceased in early February this year, the volcano rested only about 2 weeks before starting its current new eruption.
Russian volcanologists reported that new cinder cones have been forming around the new flank vents. Lava flows at the surface can be seen on satellite imagery.

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Tokyo (VAAC) issued the following report: EXPLODED AT 20210221/1353Z OVER FL060 EXTD NE OBS VA DTG:21/1350Z

Suwanose-jima (Ryukyu Islands): Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Tokyo warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 5000 ft (1500 m) altitude or flight level 050 and is moving at 15 kts in NE direction.
The full report is as follows: VA EMISSIONS CONTINUING OBS VA DTG:21/1120Z to 5000 ft (1500 m)

Manam (Papua New Guinea): (21 Feb) Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Darwin warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 20000 ft (6100 m) altitude or flight level 200 .
The full report is as follows: DISCRETE VA EMISSION TO FL200 MOV W OBS AT 21/0530Z to 20000 ft (6100 m)

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Washington warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 21000 ft (6400 m) altitude or flight level 210 .
The full report is as follows: NEW VA EM ARND 21/1315Z. to 21000 ft (6400 m)

Pacaya (Guatemala): (21 Feb) Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Washington warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 10000 ft (3000 m) altitude or flight level 100 .
The full report is as follows: ONGOING VA EMS to 10000 ft (3000 m)

Fuego (Guatemala): (21 Feb) Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Washington warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 14000 ft (4300 m) altitude or flight level 140 .
The full report is as follows: OCNL LGT VA EMS OBS IN STLT IMAGERY to 14000 ft (4300 m)

Sangay (Ecuador): Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Washington warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 20000 ft (6100 m) altitude or flight level 200 .
The full report is as follows: CONS VA EMS SEEN IN STLT. to 20000 ft (6100 m)

Reventador (Ecuador): Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Washington warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 14000 ft (4300 m) altitude or flight level 140 .
The full report is as follows: LGT VA CLDS OBS IN STLT IMAGERY to 14000 ft (4300 m)

Sabancaya (Peru): Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Buenos Aires warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 26000 ft (7900 m) altitude or flight level 260 and is moving at 25 kts in SW direction.
The full report is as follows: PUFF EMISSIONS to 26000 ft (7900 m)

Volcano Activity Summary for 21 Feb 2021:

View of the eruption at night with its impressive umbrella cloud (image: Massiimo Lo Giudice / facebook)

Last night’s eruptive episode of tall lava fountains, known as paroxysm, turned out to be one of the most impressive and powerful in recent years. Not only did it produce higher fire fountains than usually, but also it lasted longer than most other paroxysms.

Around 10:30 p.m. local time, volcanic tremor and strombolian activity from the New SE crater began to increase drastically. Half an hour later, a first lava flow started to descend from the eastern summit vent of the crater, and activity continued to increase, soon forming fountains of a few hundred meters tall.

However, instead of peaking (and decreasing) very soon, activity continued to increase and first reached its climax at around 00:30 this morning, with fire fountains reaching the incredible heights of 800-1000 m! Thanks to the near-absence of wind, a tall eruption column of over 10 km height formed with a circular umbrella cloud at the boundary between troposphere and stratosphere (see attached image by Massimo Lo Giudice on facebook)

The eruption ended abruptly at 2 a.m., thus having produced sustained lava fountains for almost 3 hours!

Time-lapse video of the eruption:

The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV Catania) reported that during the eruption, at least 3 vents of the New SE crater were active. The first lava flow from the so-called saddle vent descended to the southwest towards the Torre del Filosofo area, but eventually only reached a few hundred meters length. Most lava was directed into a more voluminous flow traveling east into the Valle del Bove, where it reached a length of 3.5-4 km and stopped in similar areas as the ones from the previous paroxysms, at elevations between 1700-1800 m.

The eruptive activity had dropped already, but the New SE crater reactivated itself in a series of approx. 20 very violent explosions between 04:30-05:15 local time, which launched incandescent bombs beyond the base of the cone.
After 05:15, no more eruptive activity was observed at the New SE crater, while mild strombolian activity is continuing from the other summit vents (Bocca Nuova, Voragine).

It will be interesting to see whether Etna continues its current rhythmic pattern of paroxysms every roughly 35 hours. If so, the 5th of the current series should occur around noon tomorrow…