Indonesia: Archipelago Of Fire

The USGS volcano list that came out yesterday has 22 volcanoes on it and 10 of them are in Indonesia. The island of Java, granted a large island, has 4 erupting itself.  Most are old favorites: Krakatoa is back on the list along with Raung and Sinabung, still messing with air travel in the area. Dukono,  Karangetang, Lokon-Empung and Tengger Caldera are often on the active list but there are some new ones or seldom seen visitors. Kerinci, Papandayan and Semeru round out the list and are names I'm less familiar with. The daily reality of Indonesia is that there are well over 100 volcanoes on the island arc nation that are considered active - over 100. That 10 are erupting right now, in some manner or other, is really not a shocker.  And, Indonesia is the 4th most populated nation on Earth, so living with volcanoes must work for them; tropical climate and volcanic soil, really not a bad combo.
In other volcanic news, just north of the Caribbean island of Grenada is a seamount called Kick-em-Jenny and seismometers in the area have been fired up of late. No surface belching or bubbling was reported and the threat level has dropped back down a couple of levels from the orange level of a few days back. Just a little reminder that the islands separating the Atlantic from the Caribbean are all volcanoes and volcanoes will be, well, volcanoes. And, the earthquakes in the area add to that reminder.
And, today's earthquake list already has over 30 recorded shakes off Puerto Rico, the Virgin Isles and Hispaniola, far above the daily average for the region. But, plate boundaries will be shaky. Off plate boundaries, there is earthquake news today and the biggest shocker of those shakes is on the northeast coast of Australia where a 5.7 quake likely caused some damage and panic. The Australian plate, a combination of continental and oceanic crust, has plenty of quakes along it's edges but 5.7 is a pretty good shake for the mainland. A quake in Sweden today adds to the earthly reminder list, it's a broken up planet and quakes can happen about anywhere at most any time. The Central Va. seismic zone is quiet, for now,  and with the dedication of our new high school coming up in 10 days I along with most others hope that remains the case. But, there will be more quakes, today on Earth.
The sultry weather still rules the mid-Atlantic but relief is on the way as a much drier air mass continues to work our way. The "cold" front is likely to fire up some t-storms today as it comes through the region but while not dropping temps much will drop dew points dramatically and being outside will be pleasant again. For now, prepare to sweat, profusely, if you venture outside today on Earth. Which I recommend, gross though it may be. It will make tomorrow that much more wonderful!
I tried to spy Venus and Jupiter last night, which was a little hazy but really cloud free and from my view I couldn't spot them…they are low in the west and likely will require very clear skies, a great, unobstructed view and maybe even binoculars to catch their next conjunction (but only within 6 degrees) tomorrow night. The moon is lined up directly behind the earth from the sun tomorrow morning at 6:43am EDT for the second full moon of July making it, by some definitions, a blue moon. But, a blue moon is a rare event (about every 3 years) and won't be blue! Now get out and check out the view both on and off your planet, Today on Earth.

A full moon rising over the research pier, Duck, NC.