Pavlof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula erupting (may it rain down red hot magma on Ted Stevens)

[Ian David]

GLIDE Number: VE-20070816-12949-USA
Date / time: 16/08/2007 03:53:42
Event: Volcano Eruption
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of Alaska
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Pavlof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula is erupting, scientists reported this afternoon. Eyewitnesses on several ships reported seeing incandescent blocks falling down the east-southeast flank of the volcano last night, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported this afternoon.

The observatory had already raised its aviation alert code for the volcano from yellow to orange, and the alert level from advisory to watch, based on heat readings by weather satellites and an escalating swarm of earthquake signals from sensors on the mountain. A pilot reported a weak ash plume extending five miles southwest of the summit at about 8,400 feet elevation.

Scientists said the eruption could become stronger at any time. Immediate hazards around the volcano include light ashfall on nearby communities, mud flows in local drainages, and lava flows and avalanching of hot debris on the upper reaches of the volcano, the observatory said. Attention was first drawn to the volcano, 37 miles northeast of Cold Bay, when earthquake activity increased abruptly on Tuesday.

Similar patterns of seismicity occurred before eruptions in 1996, 1986, 1983 and 1981, observatory scientists said. The 1996 eruption resulted in a series of ash explosions, lava-fountaining and lava flows over several months. Ash clouds reached as high as 30,000 feet. An eruption 10 years earlier sent a cloud as high as 49,000 feet. Ash clouds can present a hazard to aviation. Pavlof is a steep, symmetrical volcano 8,262 feet high. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, with nearly 40 historic eruptions.

More:
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?lang=eng&cid=12949