MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

News 24 – “Xalitzintla – Residents at the foot of Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano no longer sleep soundly since the towering mountain roared back into action over a week ago, spewing out a hail of rocks, steam and ash.

‘We close our eyes, but we don’t sleep much. In the past, there was only smoke but this time it’s stronger,’ said Francisco Jimenez, who lives in the nearby town of Xalitzintla in central Mexico, 55km from Mexico City.

The volcano, Mexico’s second highest peak at 5 452m, started rumbling and spurting high clouds of ash and steam on 13 April, provoking the authorities to raise the alert to level five on a seven-point scale.

The alert extended a security cordon around the volcano but stopped short of starting evacuations of about 685 000 residents from nearby communities.

Over the weekend, residents watched as Popocatepetl, which means ‘smoking mountain’ in the indigenous Nahuatl language, lived up to its name, spouting glowing rocks and shaking the ground beneath their feet.

‘When we went out to see, my son cried: ‘We have to leave!’ We were ready to leave for Mexico City but then it calmed down a bit,’ said 67-year-old Leopolda Perez of Xalitzintla…

‘We’ve been watching out for many nights, waiting to see what happens,’ said Gabino Santibanez, mayor of San Pedro Benito Juarez, a small town only 9km from the glowing crater.

Locals said that most frightening was the unusual rumbling coming from the volcano, which many compared to an aircraft turbine.

‘We’ve never heard a noise like it,’ said Maximiliano Grajales.” Read more.

“Over the weekend, the Tungurahua’s volcanic eruption had a strong explosion that caused gravel to fall down in the nearby town of Pillate, Ecuador.

The explosion, characterized by its loud ‘cannon ball shot’, was immediately detected by locals and scientists observing the volcano’s progress. The explosion was later followed by a slight tremor and a constant pulsation of ‘high energy’ said reports.

The constant cloud coverage surrounding the volcano has caused scientists, from the Geophysical Institute branch of the National Polytechnic School to have trouble determining its current state. Most of the direct observations are conducted in the Guadalupe Observatory, the closest in the vicinity.” Read more.

By MARY CECELIA BITTNER, Colombia Reports – “Colombia’s government has called for high risk areas to be prepared for the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.

The Interior Ministry has ordered the fire departments of 19 municipalities in the central Caldas and Tolima departments to be on high alert after the Colombian Geological Survey (SGC) announced that an eruption is “probable” in the coming days or weeks.

The alert level was raised from yellow to orange in March as the volcano became increasingly active. Last week a column of gas and steam approximately 1,200 meters tall extended from its crater.

The national director of the firefighting system warned that there is urgent need for a special contingency plan that outlines tactics to be used in emergency volcanic situations, especially for search and rescue groups. He called for a focus on high risk areas in or near the paths of rivers that originate in the Ruiz, whose levels may be elevated by pyroclastic fragments and the melting of ice.

The director of the Colombian Fire Department Federation in the town of Riosucio explained that local firemen are preparing a plan and educating communities.

In 1985 The Nevado del Ruiz erupted, wiping out the town of Armero and killing 25,000 people.” Source – Colombia Reports.

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press – “XALITZINTLA, Mexico (AP) — The white-capped volcano that looms over Mexico City emitted a terrifying low-pitched roar Friday and spewed roiling towers of ash and steam as it vented the pressure built up by a massive chamber of magma beneath its slopes. Authorities prepared evacuation routes, ambulances and shelters in the event of a bigger explosion.

Even a large eruption of the 17,886-foot (5,450-meter) cone of Popocatepetl is unlikely to do more than dump ash on one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas. But the grit could play havoc with Mexico City’s busy airport, and tens of thousands of people in the farming villages on its flanks could be forced to flee.

Popo, as it’s commonly known, has put out small eruptions of ash almost daily since a round of eruptive activity began in 1994. A week ago, the eruptions started growing larger and authorities slightly elevated the alert level for people living nearby.

Before dawn on Friday, the mountain moved into what appeared to be a new level of activity, spitting out dozens of ash clouds and shot fragments of glowing rock down its slopes while frightening the residents of surrounding villages with deep roaring not heard in a decade.” Read more.

Unconfirmed: This Hailstone Reportedly Fell in Kansas on April 15th, 2012

By Korrina Grom – “While Chicagoland was spared from the weekend’s severe weather, other parts of the Midwest weren’t as lucky, with the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center showing 150 reports of tornadoes Saturday and Sunday.

The Storm Prediction Center had much of the Midwest — including Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma — under a moderate or high risk of severe weather Saturday. Chicagoland was in the slight risk category Sunday.

According to preliminary information, there were 428 reports of severe weather on Saturday: 135 tornado reports; 94 wind reports; and 199 reports of large hail. AccuWeather.com said the deadliest tornado struck Woodward, Okla., killing six people and injuring 30.” Read more.

Sky News – “Hailstones the size of golf balls have reportedly killed three people and injured 25 others in China.

The giant pieces of ice pelted several rural areas in east China’s Jiangxi province overnight and on Wednesday morning, resulting in the deaths of three people, the Xinhua news agency said.

The hailstones were said to be as large as 3.5cm in diameter and weighed 18g on average.

The storms forced the evacuation of more than 700 people, destroyed about 2,700 hectares of crops and damaged more than 900 houses, a spokesman with the Jiangxi provincial department of civil affairs said.

Around 170,000 Jiangxi residents have been affected by the freak weather, the spokesman added.

In southwestern Guizhou province, hailstorms hit 47 villages in Taijiang county overnight, leaving 25 residents injured, including two who were severely hurt, a regional government spokesman said.” Read more.

By Andy Hooper, The Telegraph – “This month marks the second anniversary of the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull that left millions stranded across Europe, and cost airlines an estimated €150 million a day for six days. But alarmingly, there are signs of high activity beneath the much larger, neighbouring Katla caldera in Iceland – a possible sign of an impending eruption. This should prompt extensive high-level contingency planning across Europe, as Katla has the potential to be much more damaging than Eyjafjallajökull.

Since Iceland was settled in the ninth century, Katla has erupted on average every 60 years, but has not had a significant eruption since 1918. Ominously, eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in 1821-23 and 1612 were followed within months by eruptions of Katla. Judged by the historical calendar, an eruption is overdue.

Last July, a flood of water burst from beneath the ice cap on top of Katla, washing away a bridge. This indicates that an extra pulse of heat reached the base of the ice. Since then, there have been erratic movements of the surface of the volcano, measured by precise GPS instruments, and bursts of high earthquake activity beneath Katla’s caldera. These observations imply that magma has risen to shallower depths.

Katla’s eruption in 1918 produced five times as much ash as the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull one. A major eruption could result in large parts of Iceland being flooded as snow and ice melted; significant poisoning of Icelandic agriculture; destruction of property; and, of course, the grounding of aircraft across Europe.

If enough material is ejected it could even have a cooling effect on the global climate for a few years. A precedent for that would be the 1783-84 eruption from the fissure of Laki, which is part of the same volcanic system, Grímsvötn, that erupted last year.” Read more.

Flashback: New Icelandic Volcano Eruption Could Have Global Impact – “Hundreds of metres under one of Iceland’s largest glaciers there are signs of a looming volcanic eruption that could be one of the most powerful the country has seen in almost a century. Mighty Katla, with its 10km (6.2 mile) crater, has the potential to cause catastrophic flooding as it melts the frozen surface of its caldera and sends billions of gallons of water surging through Iceland’s east coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. ‘There has been a great deal of seismic activity,’ says Ford Cochran, the National Geographic’s expert on Iceland.” Read more.