The light at the end of the finals tunnel has appeared - only one set of papers (where I posed to my volcanoes class the question "if someone asked you 'why bother monitoring volcanoes?', how would you respond?") to grade now. There hasn't been a lot of new eruption news, but there has been a lot of news of simmering volcanoes and threats from volcanoes after eruption. However, we'll start with one that is actively erupting.
Ecuador: Tungurahua continues with its largest eruption since 1999 (video) - and thanks to the bevy of news that Eruptions reader Kirby has sent me, there is a lot to cover. The Instituto Geofisico has put the volcano on Orange Alert status after strombolian activity produced 2-7km / 6,500-23,000 foot ash plumes and a constant sound of explosions/rumbling. The volcano is putting on an impressive show at the summit, with incandescent blocks cascading down ...
