Alaska quakes?

Quite a few 5ers, a couple of 6ers.

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/special/Alaska.php

Now, we also have this volcano:

The activity detected in the Redoubt volcano in Alaska, where a glacier on the north side has a hole whose size has doubled in one night, makes scientists fear an eruption, local press reported Tuesday. Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory have confirmed that the area is a vent, an opening in the surface emitting gases and steam, and its size, which continues to increase, is already over two stages.

Scientists have also seen water flowing from the glacier, indicating that the heat of magma inside the volcano, located south of Anchorage, is getting closer to the surface of the mountain. The signs have spread concern among scientists that the volcano might erupt and emit a cloud of ash toward Anchorage, the largest city in the state, or other locations in the Kenai Peninsula.

If it occurs, would be the first eruption of Redoubt volcano since 1990. The volcanoes of Alaska “alert” that will erupt in a series of small earthquakes prior, due to magma moving beneath the earth’s crust. The Observatory has been some earthquakes of up to 2.1 degrees, but not with the frequency of previous eruptions.

www.dropnews.net/216/alaska-on-alert-for-possible-eruption-of-a-volcano/

Anchorage Airport closed as volcanic ash falls

The Anchorage, Alaska, airport remained closed Sunday morning after an erupting volcano shot ash some 45,000 feet in the air on Saturday, officials said.

Ash from Mount Redoubt fell around the city — Alaska’s largest — resulting in the closure of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Only a trace amount of the ash reached the airport grounds, airport spokesman Jeremy Lindseth said, but it was enough to affect operations. He said he did not know how many flights were canceled or rerouted as a result of the ash, and did not know when the airport would reopen.

The eruption occurred at about 1:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. ET) Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey told CNN. The volcano erupted four times on Friday, at times shooting ash 51,000 feet into the air.

The eruptions are the latest in a series that began March 22.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory has set the alert level at its highest possible designation — red — indicating that an eruption is under way or imminent and that the eruption will produce a “significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere.”

Friday’s volcano activity prompted Alaska Airlines to limit flights to and from Anchorage, according to the airline’s Web site. The airline canceled all its Thursday flights to and from Anchorage after an eruption earlier in the day sent an ash cloud 65,000 feet high.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/29/alaska.volcano/index.html

Scientist see holes in glacier at Alaska volcano

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Geologists monitoring Mount Redoubt for signs of a possible eruption noticed that a hole in the glacier clinging to the north side of the volcano had doubled in size overnight — and now spans the length of two football fields.

Scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory on Friday flew close to Drift Glacier and spotted vigorous steam emitted from a hole on the mountain. By Saturday, they had confirmed the area was a fumarole, an opening in the earth that emits gases and steam, that was increasing in size at an alarming rate.

They also saw water streaming down the glacier, indicating heat from magma is reaching higher elevations of the mountain.

“The glacier is sort of falling apart in the upper part,” research geologist Kristi Wallace said.

The signs of heat add to concerns that an eruption is near, which could send an ash cloud about 100 miles northeast toward Anchorage, the state’s largest city, or onto communities on the Kenai Peninsula, which is even closer to the mountain on the west side of Cook Inlet. It would be the first eruption since 1990.

Particulate released during an eruption has jagged edges and can injure skin, eyes and breathing passages, especially in young children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems.

It can also foul engines. An eruption in December 1989 sent out an ash cloud 150 miles that flamed out the jet engines of a KLM flight carrying 231 passengers on its way to Anchorage. The jet dropped more than two miles before pilots were able to restart the engines and land safely.

A week ago, the observatory detected a sharp increase in earthquake activity below the volcano and upgraded its alert level to orange, the stage just before full eruption. The warning that an eruption was imminent caused a rush on dust masks and car air filters in Anchorage.

Alaska’s volcanoes typically start with an explosion that can shoot ash 50,000 feet high and into the jet stream, but there are warning signs because magma causes small earthquakes as it moves.

Geologist Jennifer Adleman said the observatory has been recording quakes up to magnitude 2.1 but not at the frequency that preceded the last two eruptions in 1989 and 1990.

“We’re looking for an increase of seismicity to match the precursor activity,” Wallace said. “We haven’t seen that yet.”

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hcWJaxwgurm_TV9AVcObQBWbS25QD962JVUO0

Scientists Fear Volcano Could Bury Anchorage in Ash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska  —

It’s been nearly 20 years since Alaska’s Mount Redoubt erupted, but that time of tranquility might end.

Recent seismic activity could be a prelude to an eruption, “perhaps within hours to days,” said geologists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

The 10,197-foot peak sits about 50 miles west of Kenai and 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. It last erupted during a five-month stretch beginning December, 1989.

Recent activity began around 1 a.m. Sunday, then it eased about five hours later.

It was still well above normal “background” tremor levels, said Dave Schneider, a volcanologist from the observatory.

An observatory crew flew over Redoubt, and it ruled there had been no eruption.

“There was steaming through pre-existing holes, but there were no new holes. … and there was no ash on the snow cover,” he said.

But during the flyover, crew members smelled sulfur, so observatory staff will be monitoring activity and satellite images that identify temperature changes round the clock, Schneider said.

Observers will also look to weather radar scanners near the Kenai airport for help. Those scanners send data in six-minute intervals.

These scanners will be able to detect an ash plume should one appear, Schneider said.

Twenty years ago, an eruption forced mud flows from Redoubt into the Drift River drainage. The flows also caused partial flooding of the Drift River Oil Terminal facility.

Additionally, the ash plume disrupted international air traffic and a thin ash layer coated Anchorage and surrounding communities.

Sunday’s volcanic activity came on the heels of a magnitude 5.7 earthquake at the mouth of Cook Inlet.

However, Schneider said that does not necessarily mean the earthquake stirred the volcanic activity. With the two events being more than 100 miles apart, it’s even more unlikely, he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,483487,00.html