Monday 24 November 2014

Eruption on Mount Fogo, Cape Verde.

Authorities in the Cape Verde islands have oredered an evacuation of the sttlement of Chã das Caldeiras after Mount Fogo, an active volcano on Fogo Island, began erupting at about 10.00 am local time (about 11.00 am GMT) on Sunday 23 November 2014. Chã das Caldeiras lies within the caldera of Mount Fogo, making it highly vulnerable to eruptions; it is not clear if their have been any casualties as a result of the eruption. This is the first eruption on the volcano since April 1995.

Image of an ash coloumn over Mount Fogo seen from Praia on Santiago Islannd. RTC.

The entire island of Fogo is essentially the tip of a giant submarne volcano, reaching 2829 m above sea level and roughly 25 km across, with a 9 km diameter caldera in the center. The Cape Verde Islands are all volcanic in origin, sitting on a volcanic hotspot (an area where magma from deep inside the Earth is welling up through the overlying plate) located on the African Plate in the east Atlantic, roughly 600 km off the coast of Senegal.

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