Really does seem to be the Year of the Volcano

This was described as a 'mild eruption' in norther Japan (can you see it from where you are Dan?) which came without observed precursor signs, which is scary, though the mountain was on an alert 3 level

Experts don't know if it's an indicator of a bigger eruption to follow or not

1 person was killed and several injured - some skiers are trapped on the mountain - with interesting stories to tell! Efforts are underway to bring them down

In the news story there is incredible footage of boulders being launched out of the crater - looking at the area here with these massive boulders plonked around the place I'd wondered if they didn't get here in a similar event. That would be some serious 'incoming'

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/23/japan-avalanche-engulfs-skiers-after-volc...

Actually, I hadn't heard about it until I read your posting. That's far south of us so we wouldn't be able to see anything, but it sure seems that things are acting up regionally. It looks like an 8.2 quake just hit off the coast of Alaska in the last hour or so and there's an active tsunami warning. That's definitely in the same ballpark. Probably a good idea to have a travel bag ready if you live on the Ring of Fire!

A few years ago we were stuck in a Japan airport overnight due to an eruption on one of the Kuril Islands.

Update on the Alaska quake (which I didn't know about til I saw it here!) - now rated a 7.9M and tsunami warning cancelled - thank God it was quite a way out to sea coz it was only 10km deep

And now I see the Mayan Volcano in the Philippines has had its biggest eruption today since it became active a week ago - so it's all happening!

Is the planet ready to blow?

It appears this may be a cyclical event.

Having said that, isn't every event cyclical?

So the question is, on which cycle is this happening?

It's interesting how much we know about distant galaxies but still don't properly understand what goes on just beneath the earth's crust - not enough to meaningful predict it anyway

But if one more volcano pops this year then I'm gonna start thinking there's a connection