Eruption from Nicaragua's San Cristobal Prompts Evacuations

The eruptive plume from San Cristobal, seen on September 7, 2012. Image courtesy of Ricci Rich Silva. I'm back from the Geological Society of America Field Forum in the Sierras and it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll have a post later this week with some highlights from the forum along with some attempts to dispel some rumors about Fuji. However, the biggest volcanic activity (at least in terms of news coverage) is the eruption at Nicaragua's San Cristobal. The restless Central American volcano is frequently active, with VEI 1-2 eruptions almost annually for the past decade, many of which require the evacuation of people living on the slopes of San Cristobal. This eruption is no different, with a small-to-moderate ash plume* that reached ~5 km / 16,400 feet**, dropping ash on the surrounding countryside, as far as 50 km. Since the start of ...