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Alaska's Mount Redoubt Erupts Four Times
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USGS
Mount Redoubt during its last eruption cycle in 1989-1990.
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Mount Redoubt during its last eruption cycle in 1989-1990.
BREAKING NEWS — Alaska's Mt. Redoubt volcano erupted late Monday and early Tuesday in "four large explosions," sending an ash plume an estimated 50,000 feet into the air, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.
"The ash cloud went to 50,000 feet, and it's currently drifting toward the north, northeast," said Janet Schaefer, a geologist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
Geologists at the observatory say the volcano, located 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, erupted four times, from 10:30 p.m. to 1:40 a.m. local time.
"This is a fairly large eruption, close to the larger cities in Alaska," Geophysicist John Power said. He said nearby cities have not yet reported ash fall from the volcano, but noted that it's still early.
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Using radar and satellite technology, the National Weather Service is predicting ash to start falling later Monday morning.
Winds were expected to carry the ash plume north toward the Susitna Valley, possibly missing Anchorage to the east, the National Weather Service told the Anchorage Daily News.
"It looks like (Anchorage) might dodge the bullet," Alaska Volcano Observatory geophysicist Peter Cervelli told the paper.
The volcano observatory raised the aviation color code to Red, its highest level, and the alert level to Warning after the eruption began at 10:38 p.m. local time (2:38 a.m. Monday EDT.)
An official at Anchorage International Airport told the Daily News early Monday there were no immediate plans to close the airport.
Dave Stricklan, a hydrometeorogical technician with the National Weather Service, expected very fine ash.
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"Just kind of a light dusting," he described what he expects to fall on these communities. "Something you could say, 'There's ash on the ground, or on the car, whatever.' Nothing to really cover it or anything like that," he said.
He said the significant amount of ash probably dropped immediately, right down the side of the volcano.
"The heavier stuff drops out very quickly, and then the other stuff filters out. There's going to be a very fine amount of it that's going to be suspended in the atmosphere for quite some time, but nothing to really affect anything such as aviation travel. The heavier stuff will filter out," he said.
The 10,200-foot Redoubt Volcano, roughly 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, last erupted during a four-month period from 1989-90.
But the volcano became restless earlier this year. The observatory had warned in late January that an eruption could occur at any time.
Increased earthquake activity over the past 48 hours prompted scientists to raise the alert level for Mount Redoubt on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, 40 to 50 earthquakes were being recorded every hour.
A steam plume rising about 1,000 feet above the mountain peak was observed Saturday.
Alaska volcanos typically explode and shoot ash upward, sometimes to 50,000 feet, high into the jet stream. An eruption of Redoubt on Dec. 15, 1989, sent ash 150 miles away into the path of a KLM jet, stopping its engines. The jet dropped more than two miles before the crew was able to restart engines and land safely at Anchorage.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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