For the second time in a week, a blast from a new eruption been flung over 10 kilometers into the sky. However, unlike Raikoke in Russia, this one came from a volcano that has a well-known history of big explosions.
Ulawun, on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, unleashed an eruption this morning (local time) that reached at least 13.5 kilometers (45,000 feet) high according to the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center. Himawari-8 captured a great sequence showing the growing, tan ash plume from Ulawun (below). Ash drifting out over the Pacific has now reached 19 kilometers (63,000 feet) but at least for now, the eruption looks to have ceased.
Some of pictures that have been floating around on social media (although not confirmed to be authentic) suggest that the eruption produced a tall lava fountain. This would be reasonable for Ulawun as it tends to erupt ...
