2023 Mount Bapò'iliop eruption
| 2023 Mount Bapò'iliop eruption | |
|---|---|
 The eruption seen at night, December 24th, 2023 | |
| Volcano | Mount Bapò'iliop |
| Date | (climactic episode) December 24, 2023 |
| Type | Fissure, Strombolian, Phreatic, Plinian |
| Location | Wallenland |
| VEI | 5 |
The 2023 Mount Bapò'iliop eruption was a climactic eruption of Mount Bapò'iliop in Wallenland on December 24th, 2023. The initial eruption began with lava flows, which covered over 1000 hectares, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) wide at its widest point, about 6.2 kilometres (3.9 miles) long, and reaching the Cantalle Ocean, destroying more than 3,000 buildings, cutting the coastal highway. Later into the eruption a massive cloud of volcanic ash rose 80,000 feet (24 km; 15 mi) into the air, and a series of pyroclastic flows followed, with experts registering the eruption as a 5 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. The eruption opened 24 fissure vents on its western rift zone.
The eruption was preceded by a two-month series of earthquakes and steam-venting episodes caused by an injection of magma at shallow depth below the volcano that created a large bulge and a fracture system on the mountain's eastern slope. Government observations of the volcano and warnings of a potential eruption led to Prime Minister Kahia'ika Alo'abàkradíno ordering evacuations, credited with saving thousands of lives. The ash cloud was carried into the central Cantalle by eastern winds, causing international flights and shipping lanes to be rerouted. The volcano had previously erupted in 1977, which was the deadliest eruption in Wallenland's recorded history.
The international community was slow to respond and provide aid to Wallenland following the eruption, as an insurgency on the islands had led to foreign governments clearing much of their ties to the Wallenland government. On January 13th 2024, Beleroskovian President Vladimir Belskorski approved financial recovery aid to the affected regions.
Background
Mount Bapò'iliop remained dormant from its last period of activity in 1977. Several small earthquakes recorded by Volcanologist Society of Wallenland, first began on October 18th, indicated that magma might have begun moving below the volcano. On December 23rd, at 4:45 pm, a shallow, magnitude-4.4 earthquake centered below the volcano's western flank, signalled the volcano's return. A gradually building earthquake swarm saturated area seismographs and started to climax at about noon at 5:18 pm, reaching peak levels by next day, including an earthquake registering 5.2 on the Richter scale. A total of 156 shocks of magnitude 3.3 or greater was recorded in a span of less than 20 hours.
Shocks of magnitude 2.8 or greater occurred at a slightly increasing rate during November and December, with three earthquakes of magnitude 4 or above per day in early December, and six per day the week before December 23rd.
Eruption
The volcano erupted on December 24th, Christmas Eve 2023 at around 9:30 am, 46 years since 1977. At 11 am, seismic swarms began and were later followed by a phreatic eruption from Gladforde's Sky Lake at around 1 pm. At 1:45 pm, clouds of ash was released, followed by a series of pyroclastic flows and fissures opening on the volcano's western rift zone.