Eruption Update for May 24, 2013: Turrialba, Copahue, Pavlof, Iceland

The eruption of Pavlof in Alaska as seen from the International Space Station on May 18, 2013. Image: NASA. Lots of volcano news over the past few days, not to mention the earthquakes that got our attention. The two most of these earthquakes were especially interesting to me. The Okhotsk Sea earthquake in Russia that was not only large (~Mw 8.3) but also incredibly deep (~600 km). This was likely caused by a deep fracture in the slab of Pacific Ocean sliding under Eurasia that forms the Kamchatkan volcanic arc -- and the depth meant it was felt as far away (if you believe reports) as Moscow and Kobe, Japan. The second earthquake of note was the ~Mw 5.7 that occurred on the southern shores of Lake Almanor in California. This one was shallow and strong enough to be felt by friends of mine in Davis ... and is also ...