The Earth Story

Timelapse of the webcam watching the Icelandic lava flow today. Watch for the people that walk along the flow front and the helicopters that fly overhead!

After several weeks of earthquakes indicating magma migration on the Reykjanes peninsula on the southwest corner of Iceland, an eruption has begun with lava at the surface and glow from it visible on this webcam.

Is waiting for a volcano better than watching paint dry? The Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland runs off to the southwest side of the island. It's the point at which the Mid-Atlantic Ridge comes onshore, and it is above the ocean surface because of the interaction between volcanism on that ridge and the nearby Iceland Plume. The rocks, therefore, are recent volcanic rocks, and the peninsula is resurfaced by volcanism every few thousand years.

Webcam video captures large explosive eruption at Stromboli volcano on July 3.

@_elangtimur https://twitter.com/_elangtimur

Eruption of Anak Krakatau on June 25 captured by CVGHM's camera.

Neat. Earlier this month, one of the Yellowstone Wolf Packs wandered past Old Faithful early in the morning and was captured on the webcam. At first, some bison flee, then the wolfpack enters from the left.

Timelapse of long-lasting eruption of Popocatépetl volcano near Mexico City

Timelapse version of webcam video captures a massive rockfall from the face of El Capitan on Thursday. Watch in the foreground and replay - you can make out the scar where the rock peeled away.

Small eruption of Popocatépetl Volcano, near Mexico City, viewed on webcam

In a spectacular bit of coincident timing, on Tuesday night a webcam observing the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica captured this video of a shooting star - a meteor, a small piece of solar system debris entering our atmosphere - flying over the plume of the erupting volcano.

Absolutely spectacular view of a lightning storm behind smoking Popocatepetl volcano, Mexico

An eruption from Mexico’s Colima Volcano a few weeks ago

The volcano Popocatépetl near Mexico City has been regularly erupting for about a decade now, with the occasional quiet interval built in. Early Monday Morning, it unleashed a paroxysm, spitting out both ash and fountaining lava from its summit crater. This video is black and white webcam/overnight footage of that eruption.

Equipment Hazards

The US Geological Survey (USGS) recently shared this webcam photo from April 2015. It’s of a monitoring station in Alaska, where they lightheartedly note that they observed “unusual activity”.

The USGS routinely monitors volcanoes on Aleutian Islands. The islands are above a subduction zone where the Pacific Plate is being forced under the North American Plate. This particular station is observing stratovolcano Shishaldin, located on Unimak Island, which has just been downgraded to a normal alert level after a two-year low-level eruption finally subsided.

There are plenty of equipment hazards that come with monitoring volcanoes, but a bear exploring a station probably isn’t the most common. Thankfully the bear didn’t do any damage.

Photo Credit: Alaska Volcano Observatory/US Geological Survey bit.ly/1ZaffDQ

References: on.fb.me/1UHnqXH bit.ly/1UnkC2R s.si.edu/1UaY85Q

Fuego Volcano, in Guatemala, is currently quite active. Here’s a time lapse/overnight video of its ongoing eruptions from a couple days ago, from a webcam watching over the peak. Neat how the scene goes dark at night then lights up.