Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
The most significant of the low-intensity effects occurred on Saturday and Sunday. About 20 minutes worth of tremors were felt in the region, which is southeast of Mexico City.
Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention has warned nearby residents to avoid the area, adding that low-level to intermediate-level explosive activity is expected. Falling ash may affect nearby towns.
The volcano is in the states of Puebla and Morelos, 43 miles southeast of Mexico City. A 7-mile exclusion zone has been declared around the volcano, which was relatively quiet Monday.
Volcano in central Mexico spews mile-high ash column
Pavlof Volcano, about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, erupted at 4:18 p.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said. Tremors also occurred. The volcano "is one of the most consistently active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc," the agency said. Pavlof, about 4.4 miles in diameter, has had 40 known eruptions.
A previous eruption in 2012 spewed ash 27,000 feet, but the Pavlof has produced ash plumes as high as 49,000 feet the Alaska Volcano Observatory said. It's most recent eruption was Nov. 2014.
Aviation warnings remain at their highest level as the volcano alert remained in effect until at least Monday morning, with ash moving north.
Meanwhile, south of the U.S. border, Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano erupted over the weekend, spewing columns of ash up to a mile high. A 7-mile exclusion zone has been declared around the volcano.
Alaskan volcano spews ash 20,000 feet in the air
Latin America relies on hydropower for 55 percent of its total electricity generation, and the burning of fossil fuels for around 40 percent, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. At present, geothermal makes up only 5 percent of installed power capacity in Central America, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. But this could change, given growing political interest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the goal adopted by governments in the new Paris climate change agreement to keep global temperature rise "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. The planet's core heat delivers a clean, limitless and continual supply of energy along a string of mountains and active volcanoes in Latin America. Geothermal power is not vulnerable to the effects of climate change such as worsening droughts, or changes in the surface temperature of the Earth.
Smoke rises from the Popocatepetl as it spews incandescent volcanic material on the outskirts of Puebla, Mexico
Harnessing this energy from deep under their own territories could prove a cost-effective way to power the economies of Mexico and Central American states from a domestic source, experts say. "One of the main benefits is that countries can ... become independent from the fluctuations of foreign markets," said Emilia Rodríguez, a Costa Rican lawyer specializing in renewables. "It also supplies the cleanest and greenest energy." Geothermal has the smallest greenhouse gas footprint per kilowatt of any power generation technology, according to the Geothermal Energy Association, an association of U.S. companies developing geothermal resources worldwide.
National parks
In 2015, 73 percent of Costa Rica's energy generation came from hydropower and 13 percent from geothermal. Even so it already ranks seventh among the 25 countries producing geothermal power, according to the International Geothermal Association. Last year the nation's sole electricity provider went 255 consecutive days without burning any fossil fuels to generate power. The country of 5 million inhabitants wants to become the first in the world to achieve carbon neutrality, and has said it aims to do this by 2021. Becoming carbon neutral will also help the country adapt to the impacts of climate change, said Laura Lizano, energy director at Costa Rica's Ministry of Environment and Energy. "We want geothermal to remain an important source for the country. Central America is very vulnerable to climate change and this source could be an important asset to deal with extreme weather," Lizano said.
Flowers covered in volcanic ash are seen after an eruption of Turrialba volcano, at El Roble near Turrialba, Costa Rica
With more than 100 hotspots, volcanoes, cinder cones and hot springs identified in Costa Rica, geothermal can play a critical role in reaching a sustainable clean energy mix, experts say. But engineering consultant Paul Moya, who witnessed the kick-off of geothermal exploration in Costa Rica in the 1970s, said the country faces challenges to optimizing development of the power source. Current law forbids the exploitation of geothermal power inside Costa Rica's national parks and protected areas, Moya said. The expansion of the Las Pailas project, a geothermal power station with a projected capacity of 55 megawatts (MW), is located adjacent to the Rincón de la Vieja National Park. "It is a legal constraint. We know we have a lot of potential but our hands are tied because we are not allowed to do deep research in protected areas. There is no way to confirm the concrete geothermal potential because we cannot get into the parks," Moya said.
Good business?
Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province blasted volcanic ash as high as 3 kilometers (2 miles) into the sky on Saturday, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. He said ash tumbled down the slopes as far as 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) westward into a river. All the victims of Saturday's eruption were working on their farms in the village of Gamber, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away from the slope, or within the danger area.
Rescuers rush to help villagers to evacuate their homes following the eruption of Mt. Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Photos taken on Sunday showed evidence of pyroclastic flows, a fast-moving cloud of hot volcanic gases, rocks and ash, in the village. Dead and injured animals lie on the ground, around them scorched homes and smoky vegetation. Soldiers were setting up roadblocks and people were carrying their belongings and leading farm animals to safety. Nugroho said soldiers, police, and rescuers from disaster combatting agencies, as well as volunteers and villagers, were searching for more possible victims.
The mountain had been dormant for four centuries before reviving in 2010, killing two people. An eruption in 2014 killed 16 people. Mount Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Volcano erupts in western Indonesia, killing 6 people
Hundreds of people have gone to hospital, complaining of breathing difficulties and skin problems. Some schools were shut and some flights into the country cancelled or diverted.
People in the capital San Jose, about 45km (30 miles) west of the Turrialba volcano, said layers of ash had coated buildings and cars and there was a fierce smell of sulphur.
Smoke rises from the Turrialba volcano.
Costa Rica's National Emergencies Commission has advised people to wear masks and tight clothing to protect their lungs and skin. "It seems to me to be the strongest (Turrialba) eruption in the past six years," volcanologist Gino Gonzalez told reporters. Costa Rica is home to dozens of volcanoes, but most of them are dormant.
Volcano ash covers Costa Rica towns - BBC News
The temblor occurred at 1:11 p.m. Tuesday. The epicenter was in the southeast section of the volcano. "These earthquakes are part of a swarm or train of volcano tectonic earthquakes that began last Monday," the disaster prevention center, or CENAPRED, said in Wednesday's statement. "At the time of this report there have been counted 366 of these earthquakes."
Popocatépetl is about 43 miles southeast of Mexico City. CENAPRED in March raised the environmental alert level to the second degree out of three, meaning nearby residents should be prepared to evacuate.
Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano eruption causes 3-magnitude earthquake
The disaster prevention center, or CENAPRED, on Thursday said Popocatépetl erupted 19 times in the prior 24 hours, had 82 volcanic plumes and had five volcano tectonic earthquakes -- measuring in magnitudes 1.5, 1.6, 1.5, 1.4 and 1.3 , respectively.
CENAPRED also said it recorded 20 minutes of a low-amplitude harmonic tremor, as well as a plume mostly of water vapor and gas with low ash content that lasted nearly three hours and rose up to 1.2 miles.
Popocatépetl was dormant for decades before it erupted in 1994. Since then, minor volcanic activity have been part of daily life for residents living in nearby towns.
Popocatépetl is about 43 miles southeast of Mexico City. Nearby residents are under CENAPRED's Yellow Alert Phase Two -- the medium warning prior to the Red Alert, which usually prompts evacuations.
Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano spews lava fragments
