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A second volcano in remote Alaska is experiencing elevated earthquake activity this week, signaling an increased potential for eruption, officials said. Earthquake activity near Takawangha Volcano increased over the past 48 hours and are continuing, Alaska Volcano Observatory officials said in a news release Thursday. That volcano is west of Anchorage in the western Aleutian islands and about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Tanaga Volcano, which scientists said earlier this week had seen intensified earthquake activity. The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to advisory status for Tanaga Volcano late Tuesday after the quakes became vigorous. The observatory on Thursday raised the alert level to watch status for Takawangha Volcano. Analysts at the observatory continue to monitor the situation closely. Up to several earthquakes per minute are occurring under Tanaga Island, where both volcanoes are located, the observatory said. The largest quake over the previous 24 hours
Indonesia's highest volcano on its most densely populated island released searing gas clouds and rivers of lava in its latest eruption on Sunday. Monsoon rains eroded and finally collapsed the lava dome atop 3,676-metre (12,060-foot) Mount Semeru, causing the eruption, according to National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari, citing information from the Vulcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Agency at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. Several villages were blanketed with falling ash, blocking out the sun, but no casualties have been reported. Thick columns of ash were blasted more than 1,500 metres (nearly 4,000 feet) into the sky, while searing gas and lava flowed down Semeru's slopes, traveling toward a nearby river. People were advised to stay 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) from the crater's mouth, and keep off the southeastern sector area along the Besuk Kobokan river located about 13 kilometres (8 miles) from the crater. Several hundred people were
Towering clouds of ash and glowing lava are spewing from two volcanoes on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and scientists say major eruptions could be on the way. The peninsula, which extends into the Pacific Ocean about 6,600 kilometres (4,000 miles) east of Moscow, is one of the world's most concentrated areas of geothermal activity, with about 30 active volcanoes. The sudden new activity followed a strong earthquake on Saturday, news reports said. The Russian Academy of Sciences' vulcanology institute said that at Klyuchevskaya Sopka, which at 4,754 metres (nearly 16,000 feet) is Eurasia's tallest active volcano, as many as 10 explosions an hour were being recorded. Lava flows and ash emissions also are coming from the Shiveluch volcano, the institute said. Kamchatka is sparsely populated. The town of Klyuchi, with about 5,000 people, lies between the two volcanoes, 30-50 kilometres (20-30 miles) from each. The volcanoes are about 450 kilometres (270 miles) from the peninsula's on
Dozens of people have evacuated two towns on Japan's main southern island of Kyushu where a volcano spewed ash and large rocks into the nighttime sky. Large rocks fell as far as 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the Sakurajima volcano Sunday night in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima. Footage on Japan's NHK public television showed orange flames flashing near the crater and dark smoke with ash billowing high above the mountaintop. Japan's Meteorological Agency raised the eruption alert to the highest level of five and advised 51 residents in two towns facing the volcano to leave their homes. By Monday morning, 33 of them left their homes for a nursing care facility in a safer part of the region, according to Kagoshima city. NHK said others subject to evacuation might have evacuated to other locations. We will put the people's lives first and do our utmost to assess the situation and respond to any emergency, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki told reporters. He calle