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Alaska Volcano Poised for Huge Eruption

By JAMES HALPIN,
AP
Posted: 2007-08-18 05:43:21
Filed Under: Science News
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Aug. 17) - One of Alaska's most active volcanoes could be working toward a massive eruption that could affect air travel but was not expected to threaten any of the towns in the area, scientists said Thursday.

Satellite images of Pavlof Volcano taken Thursday showed strong thermal readings, consistent with what the Alaska Volcano Observatory is calling a "vigorous eruption of lava" at the volcano about 590 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula.

The volcano is below the path of hundreds of daily international flight paths, and an explosive eruption could interrupt those operations, said Steve McNutt, a volcano seismologist with the observatory. Volcanic ash can enter an engine and make it seize up, he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration sent advisories to airlines that might be operating in the area and is monitoring the situation, said spokesman Allen Kenitzer. If there is a severe eruption, flights would have to be diverted, possibly resulting in delays, he said.

McNutt said seismic activity is high at the 8,262-foot volcano, with about one tremor recorded every minute. Lahars - mudslides caused when lava melts snow on the peak - have triggered some seismic activity, as well, he said.

The mudslides took place on the southeast side of the volcano, an area he said is inhabited by few, if any, people. Pavlof is about nine miles from Pavlof Bay, a popular fishing ground, but at the moment it isn't posing an immediate threat, McNutt said.

He said hazards the volcano could present included light ash fall on nearby communities, mud flows, lava flows and hot debris avalanching on the volcano's flanks.

Several small towns are in the area, including King Cove, which is about 35 miles to the southwest with a population of roughly 800, and Cold Bay, nearly 40 miles southwest with a population of about 90. But they're too far to be affected by lava, and McNutt said an eruption probably would coat the towns with no more than a 2- or 3-millimeter-thick blanket of ash.

Josh Gould, co-owner of King Cove grocer John Gould & Sons Co. Inc., said people in town were preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. Sales of basic staples are up, he said, but there's no danger of running out of products like water, bread and milk.

He said that an ash plume was visible from town, but that none was falling on it yet.

Seismic activity was first picked up at the volcano Tuesday. Eyewitnesses aboard a fishing boat in the area Wednesday reported glowing lava on the volcano's southeast flank. Pilots have reported a weak plume of ash drifting 5 miles to the southwest and likely below 20,000 feet.

"What we think we're in for is several months of low-level eruptions punctuated by a few large and explosive events," McNutt said.

Pavlof, which has had about 40 eruptions since record keeping began in the area in the 1760s, is among the most closely monitored volcanoes in the state, with permanent monitoring equipment installed nearby.

Its last eruption was in 1996; that 11-year span is the longest Pavlof has gone without an event, McNutt said. A string of eruptions took place during the 1970s and 1980s.

A series of ash explosions and lava eruptions took place for several months after the last eruption. Ash clouds reached as high as 30,000 feet at the time. During a 1986 eruption, Pavlof spewed ash as high as 49,000 feet.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-08-17 16:39:39
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Recent Comments

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3019 comments

jerralyng49 10:44:52 PM Aug 23 2007

ALRIGHT,...all this back n forth...entimes not intimes..as its been said before --PLATE TECH TONICS..., i agree yes the earth is still alive and hopefuly will be for many centuries to come, Volcanoes form, things happen, all these disasters, But then again YES its ritten in the bible of bout end times, but they need to becareful about what you say a end time is...i think its crazy..lets see it starts rainin like crazy.....lightin almost strikes your house----ENDTIMES!!!!!!......then again Dumb people , -no offence to new orleans- want to sit things out---YOU SEE A BIG A** VOLCANO, AND YOUR GONNA GO LIVE NEXT TO IT!?!??! WTF that dosent make sence!! you KNOW! things happen and yet u wanna act like Super Man and "take it"...what the---its just plain stupid...maby if more people prayed instead of whined most of this crap wouldent happen.
God isent punishing no one, if that is so then he woulda punished us in D.C/A.C times wayyy back then. when we first commited our sins. Sure people who a

gerogias25 10:33:17 PM Aug 23 2007

i hope it works out ok my prayers for any one living there

beanierene24 07:07:18 PM Aug 23 2007

hunter,

the truth will always be the truth regardless of what people choose to believe - you can take that to the bank!
that volcano is going to blow as they are want to do and it will be the end times for some poor fool who did not heed the warning signs, allegory or not. before long the rest of the story will unfold and you can choose again- to heed the truth or parrish with the rest. do not tarry. do not seek explanations. trust your intuition and leap to save yourself. you will mark my words, they are your destiny whether you believe it or not! good luck pilgrim!

moxiroxie 05:44:22 PM Aug 23 2007

jpy1976-----

that's not even funny.

feestephen 04:13:09 PM Aug 23 2007

I Blame Cow Farts and Global warming .

dturtledove 04:12:00 PM Aug 23 2007

BUT HEY!.......CHECK OUT THIS SITE!....WWW.AMAZINGDREAMCATCHER.COM

THERE'S DOLPHINS, PEACOCKS, PEACE SIGNS, MOONS, STARS, HEARTS, MANY OTHERS!
PRETTY COOL!!!!!!!!

compajuan38 02:25:46 PM Aug 23 2007

Actually Alaska is overwhelmed with volcanoes, especially in the Aleutian chain, like a long string of pearls! and a few near or on the Cook Inlet area, to check these out you can go to AVO website (Alaska Volcano Observatory) which even have live webcams on some key volcanoes like St. Augustine, Mt. Spurr, and Redoubt, (I don't know why they dont have this feature at Mt. Blackburn and Wrangell, near Glennallen)

compajuan38 02:16:36 PM Aug 23 2007

Well, at least in South Western and south Central Alaska, anything reaching 70 is considered to be an oppressive "heat wave", and by mid to late August it actually starts cooling down faster seasonally than what occurs in the lower 48, Also it gets much warmer in Fairbanks in summer than say Anchorage, Juneau and Ketchikan, but in winter Fairbanks is much colder.. The dangerous year was 2003, when way above average heat was felt all across that state, almost into late November in the 70's! (and Fairbanks in the 100's)That had a lot of folks worried for a while, due to wild fire and smoke hazy conditions..

As far as ANWR I believe it should be co-operativized like done in other countries..

kpsra 12:21:57 PM Aug 23 2007

Good, maybe this will change global weather patterns back to normal

Jpy1976 10:56:03 AM Aug 23 2007

hunterofthepack,

How about American Hiroshima? 10 US cities nuked by Al Queda.

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