Gallery: And the 2013 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year Goes To...
01San Miguel, El Salvador
Voting is done and now it's time to count down to the winner of the 2013 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year. Thank you to everyone who submitted a ballot. I’ve compiled the top 10 (and a few honorable mentions) to count us down to #1. I thought I’d start us off with an eruption that happened too late to be counted — [the explosive eruption](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/new-explosive-eruption-from-san-miguel/) of San Miguel (above) in El Salvador, where over [2,000 people have already been evacuated](http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20131230/unas-2000-personas-evacuadas-erupcion-del-volcan-chaparrastique-salvador/835563.shtml). I received a lot of votes for volcanoes — here are some that missed the top, but did receive votes: [Jebel Zubair](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=221020), [El Hierro](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=383020), [Tungurahua](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=352080), [Karangatang](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=267020), [Zalzala Koh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalzala_Koh) The past Pliny Winners: 2009: [Sarychev Peak, Russia](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/the-2009-pliny-for-volcanic-event-of-the-year-goes-to/) 2010: [Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/and-the-2010-pliny-for-volcanic-event-of-the-year-goes-to/) 2011: [Puyehue-Cordon Caulle, Chile](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/and-the-2011-pliny-for-volcanic-event-of-the-year-goes-to/) 2012: [Tolbachik, Russia](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/12/and-the-2012-pliny-for-volcanic-event-of-the-year-goes-to/) Now, on to the countdown! *Image: [NASA Earth Observatory.](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82734)*
02HM: Pavlof, Alaska
Pavlof, Alaska (Honorable Mention) ---------------------------------- The [eruption at Pavlof](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/possible-eruption-started-at-alaskas-pavlof/) was relatively brief, but when [it was going](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/eruption-continues-at-pavlof-less-ash-in-plume/), it was going strong, producing an [impressive lava fountain and lava flows](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/lava-flows-and-ash-plume-as-eruption-continues-at-pavlof/) from the [remote Alaskan volcano](http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Pavlof.php). The eruption even [disrupted the heavily travelled air corridor](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/reinvigorated-eruption-at-pavlof-disrupts-air-traffic/) across the Aleutians. *Image: [Alaska Volcano Observatory/USGS - Theo Chesley](http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=50001).*
03HM: Kilauea, Hawaii
Kilauea, Hawai’i (Honorable Mention) ------------------------------------ Steady as she goes — [Kilauea](http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/kilaueastatus.php) didn’t do anything spectacular in 2013 other than [march along in this 30+ year eruption](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/07/dynamic-lava-lakes-and-flow-at-kilauea/). Personally, 2013 was great for Kilauea because I got to [get up close and personal](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/03/video-of-kilauea-lava-flows/) with [active lava flows on the volcano](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/03/visiting-a-lava-flow-on-hawaiis-kilauea/). Remember, you can watch the eruption anytime you want on one of the [many HVO webcams](http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cams/) on the volcano. *Image: [HVO/USGS](http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/?display=default)*
Picasa04HM: White Island, New Zealand
White Island, New Zealand (Honorable Mention) --------------------------------------------- There was a [lot of rumbling](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/eruption-update-for-january-22-2013-puyehue-cordon-caulle-white-island-rabaul-taal/) from the island volcano in the Bay of Plenty, but it was the [explosive eruption caught on film in October](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/eruption-at-white-island-captured-on-video/) that really got everyone’s attention. It does seems that over the past two years, [White Island](http://www.geonet.org.nz/volcano/info/whiteisland) has been more active and clearly is one to watch as we head into 2014. *Image: [GNS Science/GeoNet](http://info.geonet.org.nz/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=6750294)*
05T10: Paluweh, Indonesia
T10. Paluweh, Indonesia (11 points) ----------------------------------- [Paluweh (Rokatenda)](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=264150) was the location of probably the [largest volcanic tragedy of 2013](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/08/fatalities-at-rokatenda-after-pyroclastic-flow/), where a number of people were killed by a [pyroclastic flow](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/pyroclastic-flows-deposits-from-the-paluweh-eruption/) as they slept on the beach of the island volcano. The volcano went through [cycles of dome collapses](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/vulcans-view-12/) during the year, some even [caught in the act](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/fleeting-volcanic-moments-capture-by-satellite/) by our eyes in the sky. *Image: [NASA Earth Observatory](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80422)*
06T10: Veniaminof, Alaska
T10. Veniaminof, Alaska (11 points) ----------------------------------- The second of the trio of actively-erupting volcanoes in Alaska during 2013 (the third being [Cleveland](http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Cleveland.php)), [Veniaminof erupted from one of the cinder cones](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/new-eruption-at-alaskas-veniaminof-caldera/) within the icy [Veniaminof caldera](http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Veniaminof.php). When people could get into see the eruption in action, they caught glimpses of [lava-ice interactions](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/08/lava-meets-ice-and-snow-during-the-2013-veniaminof-eruption/) as the lava flowed directly under the snow and ice. This eruption is still lingering, with the volcano on yellow aviation status but when it began, it was [going simultaneously with the Pavlof activity](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/eruptions-at-pavlof-and-veniaminof-continue/). *Image: [Alaska Volcano Observatory/USGS - Joyce Alto](http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=56424)*
07T10: Popocatepetl, Mexico
T10. Popocatépetl, Mexico (11 points) ------------------------------------- Mexico’s [Popocatépetl](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=341090) has an [active early summer](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/explosions-and-earthquakes-still-rocking-mexicos-popocatepetl/), with a [series of explosions](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/07/increased-eruptions-at-mexicos-popocatepetl-cause-minor-air-travel-cancellations/) that [kept Mexico City on its toes](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/explosive-eruption-at-mexicos-popocatepetl). The most impressive might have been the June eruption that was [caught on film, shockwave and all](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/watch-the-shockwave-of-an-explosion-at-mexicos-popocatepetl/). The volcano has simmered ever since, but it was really these explosions that reminded people of the hazard of Popocatépetl. *Image: [NASA Earth Observatory](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=80621).*
087: Shiveluch, Russia
7. Shiveluch, Russia (12 points) -------------------------------- I kind of feel guilty about [my coverage of Shiveluch in 2013](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/eruption-update-for-april-26-2013/). However, the [Russian volcano](http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current_eng.php?name=Sheveluch) continued to produced impressive eruptions that put almost anywhere else on the planet would have been front page news. Thankfully, [Shiveluch gets all the love](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=80226) it needs from the NASA Earth Observatory folks who captured [all the changes](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=80890) in the volcano over [its many eruptions](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=80830) during the year. *Image: [NASA Earth Observatory](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=80773).*
096: Tolbachik, Russia
6. Tolbachik, Russia (22 points) -------------------------------- [Our 2012 Pliny winner](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/12/and-the-2012-pliny-for-volcanic-event-of-the-year-goes-to/) kept on erupting into 2013 and now likely totals over a cubic kilometer of [basaltic lava erupted](http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current_eng.php?pageNum_img=0&name=Plosky%20Tolbachik) from the [multiple vents](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/four-new-cinder-cones-from-the-ongoing-tolbachik-eruption-in-russia/) on the flanks of [Tolbachik](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=300240). We got to see some great video of the lava flows at the volcano and even [people directly sampling](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/sampling-lava-tolbachik-eruption/) (with iron rebar) of moving flows. The eruption appears to have mostly halted for now, but the [alert status is still elevated](http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/) at the volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula. *Image: [NASA Earth Observatory](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=80632).*
unknown105: Sakurajima, Japan
5. Sakurajima, Japan (55 points) -------------------------------- [Sakurajima](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=282080) is such a [steady performer](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=82179) that its activity can sometimes get lost in the shuffle — but when one of the [largest conferences for volcanologists](http://www.iavcei2013.com) is held within throwing distance of the volcano, it might get on more people’s radars. [Sakurajima not only kept on its pace](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=81891), but also had some of its [largest explosive eruptions in half a century](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/08/large-explosion-at-sakurajima-dusts-kagoshima-with-ash/), dusting Kagoshima with ash multiple times -- many of which were [caught by our satellite eyes](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=82485). *Image: [Ion Tichy / Wikimedia Commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sakurajima_September_2013_3.jpg)*
114: Kliuchevskoi, Russia
4. Kliuchevskoi, Russia (73 points) ----------------------------------- Back in the confines of the Kamchatka Peninsula we find our third Russian volcano of this year’s list. [Kliuchevskoi](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=300260) showed off some power this year with [an immense lava fountain followed by lava flows during the fall](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/lava-fountains-and-lava-flows-from-russias-kliuchevskoi/). The eruption [produced enough sulfur dioxide](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/sulfur-dioxide-from-kliuchevskoi-over-the-midwest/) that the plume from the event was still discernible as the sulfur dioxide stretched over the US Midwest. [With eruptions like that](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/seeing-the-kliuchevskoi-eruption-from-land-and-space/), you can be sure that [it was captured from space](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82227). This new image of the volcano from the ISS (above) shows that the volcano is still rumbling along as we enter 2014. *Image: [NASA Earth Observatory](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82471)*
123: Sinabung, Indonesia
3. Sinabung, Indonesia (92 points) ---------------------------------- It has been three years since [Sinabung’s](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=261080) surprise return to activity and much like that activity in 2010, the [start of eruptions](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/first-eruption-in-three-years-from-indonesias-sinabung/) at the Indonesia volcano was somewhat unexpected. However, the [prolonged series of explosive eruptions](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/new-eruptions-from-russias-zhupanovsky-and-indonesias-sinabung/) from Sinabung have become a humanitarian crisis for the region as [almost 20,000 people have been evacuated](http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/19000-indonesians-flee-erupting-volcano/) for months, with no sense of an end as [the eruptions get more intense](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/eruption-at-sinabung-intensifies/). Recent observations suggest that a [new dome is growing](http://www.google.com/hostednews/getty/article/ALeqM5hNFG2M2jD04PWroYQGGtB2T14Xaw?docId=459963177) at the summit of Sinabung, increasing the likelihood of hazards like pyroclastic flows. *Image: [Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/eruption-at-sinabung-intensifies/)*
132: Nishino-shima, Japan
2. Nishinoshima, Japan (199 points) ----------------------------------- It might have been [a late entry](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/pacific-eruption-at-nishino-shima-producing-new-island/), but [Nishinoshima](http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=284096) in the Bonin Islands of Japan definitely [made an impression](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=82607). The submarine eruption quickly became subaerial, [producing a new island](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/eruption-update-for-december-2-2013-etna-nishinojima-sinabung-and-merapi/) next to the [older island of Nishinoshima](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=82718). I was skeptical that the island would have permanence, but lo-and-behold, not only did it grow quickly but [it joined with Nishinoshima itself](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/continuing-eruption-at-nishinoshima-joins-two-islands/). Recent observations of the eruption by the Japan Coast Guard show that the eruption is ongoing with an active spatter cone and lava flow from the new vent. *Image: [Japan Coast Guard](http://www1.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/GIJUTSUKOKUSAI/kaiikiDB/kaiyo18-2.htm)*
141: Etna, Italy
1. Etna, Italy (537 points) --------------------------- [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2014/01/Pliny.jpg)There was no doubt about it. There would be [no controversial, close vote](http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/11/15/trout-cabrera-doesnt-matter-much-they-both-had-mvp-seasons/) this year, but rather [a performance that blew everyone else away](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/11/11/nl_mvp_ap/). Italy’s [Etna](http://www.ct.ingv.it/en/volcanoes-etna.html) produced over 20 paroxysms over the course of 2013, many of which were [spectacular Strombolian eruptions](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/spectacular-video-of-etnas-latest-eruption/) that had [towering lava fountains](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/marvelous-hd-video-of-etnas-latest-eruption/), bursting bubbles of magma, [lava flows](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/etnas-new-southeast-crater-produces-another-explosive-show-lava-flow-included/) that snaked down the Valle del Bove and most of all, were [easily seen by the many observers on Sicily](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/stunning-lava-fountains-from-italys-etna/). There was even an eruption that have [three vents actively erupting](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/eruption-update-for-november-5-2013-etna-sinabung/) at [the same time!](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=82287) The [New Southeast Crater](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037702731300348X) was so active this year that it is now as [tall as any crater vent on the volcano](http://www.flickr.com/photos/etnaboris/11192154154/), producing a twin peak to the Etna. Remember, even if you're not on Sicily, you can watch the continuing action from Etna on the [many webcams](http://www.ct.ingv.it/en/webcam-etna-en.html) pointed at the volcano.All in all, Etna was exactly the type of eruption volcano enthusiasts love: easy to observe, [impressive](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/etnas-explosive-last-three-days/) and all without putting many people in danger’s path -- a fitting winner of the 2013 Pliny. *Image (Etna): [Dr. Boris Behncke / Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/etnaboris/8627013665/).* *Image (Pliny): [Wolfgang Sauber / Wikimedia Commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Como_-_Dom_-_Fassade_-_Plinius_der_J%C3%BCngere.jpg).*
