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Erupting Alaska volcano spews ash

Posted on: Friday, 13 January 2006, 17:49 CST

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A trio of explosions at Augustine Volcano, an island peak 171 miles southwest of Anchorage, sent ash clouds that were reported as high as nearly 5 miles above sea level on Friday, officials said.

The explosions, lasting 3 1/2 to 11 minutes each, followed two similar events on Wednesday and were part of an eruptive period that could last for months, said Tina Neal, a geologist with the federal-state Alaska Volcano Observatory.

"This is one big eruption period, and it's going to have several sub-events that we might call eruptive pulses," she said.

A pilot reported ash from the second explosion as high as 52,000 feet above sea level, Neal said. Ash clouds from the other two explosions were reported to reach 30,000 to 36,000 feet, according to the observatory.

A "very light dusting" of ash was reported near Homer, a community about 75 miles northeast of Augustine, Neal said.

The ash fall was reported by a National Weather Service observer, said Dave Schneider, a U.S. Geological Survey official at the volcano observatory. According to that report, he said, "You can almost taste it in your mouth, but you can't perceive it any other way."

Augustine's previous eruptions were in 1986 and 1976. In both those years, the volcano had several ash- and steam-producing explosions that ran over a prolonged period, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

The current activity, which was preceded by months of small but intensifying earthquakes below the volcano, is similar to that of the past, Neal said. "This is typical Augustine behavior," she said.

Flight restrictions creating a buffer around Augustine have been in place for the past few days.

Augustine, a conical-shaped peak, rises 4,134 feet out of Cook Inlet, forming its own uninhabited island. It is the most active of the Cook Inlet volcanoes, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Source: REUTERS

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