Japan’s Sakurajima volcano shaken by large explosive eruption

July 22, 2013 – JAPAN – A strong vulcanian explosion occurred last night at 11:02 GMT (20:02 local time), following several hours of near complete calm at the volcano. A loud cannon-shot bang accompanied the explosion, which generated a large mushroom cloud that reached 12,000 ft (3.7 km) altitude and engulfed the NE half of the Sakurajima peninsula and was followed by several smaller ones within about half an hour. The volcano and much of the surrounding areas remained under the ash plume for several hours until it started to clear up again. In the hours after the explosion, the Showa crater continued to emit ash plumes in often near-continuous pulses, sometimes reaching several 100 m height, but with no visible incandescence or audible sounds. –Volcano Discovery

Large explosions at Ecuador volcano: An increase of activity occurred yesterday. IGPEN recorded 3 strong pulses of volcanic tremor since midnight 20-21 July (local time), which were accompanied by strombolian activity and strong explosions that produced loud roars, heavy gunfire sounds, and vibrations that rattled floors, windows and doors of houses in areas nearby. Some were heard even in the Tungurahua Volcano Observatory (OVT), located 14 km north of the volcano. The largest explosion yesterday at 14h18 (local time) generated an eruption column of 5 km height moving east. Although so far there have been no new pyroclastic flows, this could likely happen in the near future. Ash fall occurred in the area of ​​Manzano, Choglontus, Tisaleo, Cevallos and Mapayacu. In between the explosions, constant strombolian activity with the ejection of incandescent bombs, some of which rolled down the slopes could be seen at night. The explosions caused considerable damage to some of the monitoring instruments (solar panels, cameras etc.). –Volcano Discovery