Scientists raised the alert level for aremote Aleutian volcano on Monday after an explosion wasdetected on the mountain and...
Scientists raised the alert level for aremote Aleutian volcano on Monday after an explosion wasdetected on the mountain and heard by residents of a tinyvillage some 45 miles (72 km) away, a monitoring website said.
Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot (1,730-metre) peak on the uninhabited Chuginadak Island, about 940 miles (1,504 km)southwest of Anchorage, was raised to orange from yellow by theAlaska Volcano Observatory.
The orange code, the second-highest on the scale, is issuedwhen a volcano is "exhibiting heightened or escalating unrestwith increased potential of eruption," according to theobservatory.
A red code is issued when an eruption is imminentor under way.
The observatory said that an explosion was detected onCleveland by both infrasound and seismic data and heard byresidents of Nikolski, a settlement of less than 50 people onUmnak Island about 45 miles (72 km) to the east.Infrasound instruments measure air pressure around thevolcano.
Scientists said that cloudy weather obscured Cleveland'speak in satellite images but that no evidence of an eruptioncloud had been detected at a height of 28,000 feet (8,534.4meters).
The volcano, named after USPresident Grover Cleveland, isone of the most active of Alaska´s scores of volcanoes and itsash cloud could pose a threat to aircraft when it erupts.
Earlier this year Mount Pavlof on the Alaska Peninsulaerupted with little advanced warning, spewing an ash cloud up to20,000 feet (6,096 meters) high that prompted aviation warningsacross the region.
Pavlof is currently at yellow on the alert scale, meaningthat it is "exhibiting signs of elevated unrest" but noterupting, according to the observatory.