"Catastrophic" volcanic eruption on tiny island off Yemen

[Brent]

TORONTO - A volcano has erupted on a tiny island off the coast of Yemen, spewing lava and ash hundreds of feet into the air, a Canadian naval vessel near the island in the Red Sea reported Sunday. The Yemeni government asked NATO to assist in searching for survivors.

Ken Allan, a Navy Public Affairs with the Canadian Armed Forces, said a NATO fleet just outside the territorial waters of the island Jazirt Atta-Ir reported seeing a “catastrophic volcanic eruption.” The 2-mile-long island is about 70 miles off the coast of Yemen.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21072760/

[TexasStooge]

OMG! Hope everyone in that particular area's OK!

[Chacor]

Two dead, eight missing, two survivors reported so far.

[alan1961]

Here is some video from the BBC in Yemen
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid ... 021562.stm?

[Tstormwatcher]

Good thing the island was almost uninhabitat.

[Ptarmigan]

I never thought there would be any volcano in that area.

[Chacor]

It's along a fault line, so there's bound to be something.

[HURAKAN]

On the evening of September 30, 2007, Jebel at Tair erupted, sending lava down its flanks and releasing a cloud of volcanic ash. On October 8, 2007, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image. A glowing hot spot and a faint volcanic plume suggest that, although the volcano had quieted since September 30, its activity had not completely stopped.

ASTER measures not only light visible to human eyes, but also near infrared light, enabling the sensor to detect thermal anomalies caused by substantial temperature differences. The bright red spot at the summit is such an anomaly, and it suggests hot lava associated with ongoing volcanic activity. Immediately to the north of the summit is a small faint red streak, another thermal anomaly that appears to flow down the volcano’s slope. At the same time, a nearly transparent plume emanates from the summit up toward a cloud. Water content of the volcanic plume could be responsible for this cloud, although clouds do routinely form over summits.

On September 30, 2007, NATO ships in the region reported a spectacular “light show” complete with fountains of lava. Dark rivulets of rock in this image indicate an apparent lava flow in the northeast quadrant of the island, moving in the same direction as the faint thermal anomaly near the summit. These dark deposits likely resulted from the recent eruption, and contrast with the paler shades of older lava flows.

Jebel at Tair is a stratovolcano—a steep-sloped cone composed of alternating layers of ash, lava, and rocks produced by earlier eruptions. The latest eruption is a continuation of activity on this island, where explosive eruptions were recorded in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Jebel at Tair is known by multiple names and spellings. It has alternately been referred to as Jabal al-Tair, Jabal al-Tayr, Tair Island, Al-Tair Island, Djebel Teyr, and Jibbel Tir.

You can download a 15-meter-resolution KMZ file of Jebel at Tair suitable for use with Google Earth.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsro ... g_id=17795

[artist]

HURAKAN - that is really interesting. Thanks for posting.