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A sudden eruption of an isolated volcano in Alaska has led to a series of warnings and alerts in the region. Although the event seems to be a rather isolated one, the area continues to be closely monitored to avoid any problems a new eruption might create.

On Dec. 20, several airplane pilots reported an eruption on the small island called Bogoslof, which is along the Aleutian Islands chain. The event surprised everyone, as there was no indication that a new eruption was about to take place.

A Lucky Circumstance

Luckily, the island is quite isolated and the eruption itself had no effect on the lives of the local population, as only around 4,300 people live within 62 miles (100 kilometers) from the volcano.

Nevertheless, the eruption should not be treated lightly. The ashes of the short-lived event reached up 6 miles (10 kilometers) in the sky. The volcano itself is not exactly a small one, as it rises 4,900 feet (about 1,500 meters) above the seabed, more than 900 feet (about 300 meters) of which are above the water.

Even if no inhabitant of the area is directly jeopardized by such an eruption, not the same could be said about those flying above the Aleutians.

In fact, the area is rather well-known for the intense air traffic, especially when it comes to routes that tie America to Asia. Acknowledging these risks, the Alaska Volcano Observatory announced a red alert in the region and was further passed on to air traffic controllers and airlines.

The observatory does not have equipment on the island, but that did not prevent it from closely monitoring the activity of the volcano. The lack of activity observed after the eruption led to the decision of reducing the level of the alert to orange. The area continues to be monitored by the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

"We will monitor satellite images and data from distant seismic and infrasound instruments for indications of significant explosive activity," noted the observatory.

An Expected Eruption

The Bogoslof Volcano has erupted several times in the past, about six times since the end of the 18th century. The last known eruption took place in 1992. Some of these phenomena were quite impressive, the lava from the eruption led to the creation of several small islands, which were later covered by the sea.

The visible top of the volcano was also created through the same phenomenon, and scientists wonder whether the process is about the start again. However, according to the data covered so far, it seems unlikely for another eruption to happen very soon.

ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. </s> For the third time this week, a volcano on Alaska’s Bogoslof Island has erupted, sending yet another ash plume into the air. Bogoslof is located in the Aleutian Islands, a chain of mostly volcanic islands in the Bering Sea.

Volcano erupts for third time on Bogoslof Island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain

As reported by Alaska Dispatch News, the third eruption took place on the morning of Friday, December 23. The aviation color code has since been raised to red by the Alaska Volcano Observatory, with its status being updated to “warning” after reviewing reports that Bogoslof Island had experienced a short eruption defined as explosive. The volcano sits around 60 miles west of Unalaska, the largest city of the Aleutian Islands.

The eruption was reported to have lasted for just over an hour, according to VolcanoDiscovery. No visual observations have yet been recorded as the sky was quite cloudy at the time of the Bogoslof Island eruption, with the plume not having reached the regional cloud deck of 30,000 feet.

Lava and fragmental material were ejected from the volcano, with ash emission subsiding at around 10:37 a.m. Alaskan time, this according to the coast guard. The attempts of volcanologists to receive signals from monitoring stations near Bogoslof Island were interrupted due to a major storm in the area, the structure of which was already radically altered due to the first two storms. The island itself has changed dramatically in shape since its first cartographical record, which was in the 1700s. These changes are due not only to frequent eruptive activity, but also energetic wave action, according to KCUB.

Alaska communities have been assured that no ash will make its way into the state’s mainland, as forecast winds are expected to carry it over water into the northeast. A volcanic ash cloud forecast was nevertheless issued by The National Weather Service, with the area of concern located west of the Nunivak Islands. The NWS’s aviation desk, based in Anchorage, has been tracking weather issues related to Bogoslof Island since its first eruption on Wednesday, December 21. A major characteristic of this is said to be dozens of lightning strikes, which Alaska Volcano Observatory geophysicist John Lyons says are still being monitored very closely.

Michael Kutz, a NWS meteorologist based in Anchorage, announced that a single system is expected to be formed by three low-pressure systems in the Aleutian Islands come Sunday afternoon, Christmas Day. Stormy conditions, he continues, are the majority of the reason why ash from the volcano on Bogoslof Island has and will not land on the mainland of Alaska post-eruption.

By Lorelai Zelmerlow

Share On </s> ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A volcano on a remote island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain has simmered down after erupting and prompting an aviation alert.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Friday the Bogoslof volcano sent an ash plume about 20,000 feet in the air in its eighth explosion detected since Dec. 16.

The latest eruption caused the observatory to issue its highest alert for aircraft, but the Federal Aviation Administration says the eruption has had no effect on flight operations.

Observatory geologist Chris Waythomas says the volcano has quieted down, but the alert remains in place.

He says most of the volcano’s vent is underwater, which adds steam to ash plumes when magma is dislodged.

The volcano began erupting shortly before midnight Thursday. It is located on an island in the Bering Sea about 850 miles southwest of Anchorage. </s> A satellite image shows an ash cloud from Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutians shortly after its 1:20 p.m. eruption Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. Another eruption of Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutian Islands sent an ash cloud east over the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island on Wednesday, disrupting aviation in the region and producing the potential for land-based ashfall.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Anchorage Daily News. </s> ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A volcano on a remote island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain has erupted again, prompting an aviation alert.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory says the Bogoslof (BOH-goh-slawf) volcano sent an ash plume about 20,000 feet in the air by early Friday morning.

The eruption caused the observatory to issue its highest alert level for aircraft.

During an eruption of the volcano last week, the Federal Aviation Administration said flights were rerouted around the plume.

The center says the volcano began erupting shortly before midnight Thursday and its activity was recorded by seismic data and in satellite images.

The volcano is located on an island of the same name in the Bering Sea about 850 miles southwest of Anchorage. </s> Another eruption of Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutian Islands sent an ash cloud east over the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island on Wednesday, disrupting aviation in the region but producing no signs of ashfall on land.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Bogoslof, on a tiny island about 60 miles west of Unalaska, erupted twice at about 1:20 p.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesday. The first, stronger eruption produced a high-level ash cloud.

"Pilots reported the cloud reached a height greater than 31,000 ft (above sea level), and prevailing winds carried it northeast over the Bering Sea," AVO staff said. "This eruption also produced lightning strikes, and infrasound signals detected by sensors in Sand Point and Dillingham."

Unalaska police and Kodiak fire dispatchers said they had no local reports of ashfall overnight Wednesday, and neither the observatory nor the National Weather Service had any reports of ash falling on land by Thursday afternoon.

A satellite image taken after the first eruption showed an ash cloud just northeast of Bogoslof that AVO said was "darker in color, and presumably more ash-rich, than others we have seen in the eruptive sequence" that began in mid-December.

"This image also suggests the presence of very hot material (lava) at the surface immediately surrounding the vent — the first such observation during this eruption sequence," AVO staff wrote.

Chris Waythomas, a geologist at the observatory, said previous Bogoslof eruptions over the past month occurred underwater and sent up clouds of steam. A lot of the ash from those blasts was frozen into ice crystals and quickly became undetectable, but much more ash was visible in Wednesday's main eruption.

"Soon afterward we could see elevated temperatures at Bogoslof in satellite data — for that to happen you have to have lava right at the surface," Waythomas said. "That was only in one image, and in subsequent images we didn't see the thermal signal."

After the eruptions, the volcano's aviation color code had been raised to red and its alert level to warning — AVO's highest indicators of potential activity — but they were lowered to orange and watch on Thursday afternoon. Waythomas said seismic data from the volcano has been "pretty quiet" since the Wednesday eruptions.

Waythomas said violent interactions between magma and seawater may have removed any materials, such as lava plugs formed during eruptions in 1883 and 1992, that broke the sea's surface during the blasts.

"It's possible that a plug of lava is close or at the surface, but may have been destroyed by the effects of the eruption or collapsed into the vent," Waythomas said. "We're kind of expecting to see that, eventually: a vent of lava extruded."

Robert Easton, an aviation forecaster with the National Weather Service's Alaska Aviation Weather Unit in Anchorage, said the unit issued an advisory to aviators tracking the cloud's location overnight Wednesday but canceled it Thursday morning because the ash was no longer appearing on radar.

"It has been affecting flights all (Wednesday) night," Easton said. "At least three or four were affected at the minimum."

Dave Barber, also at the weather unit, said forecasters were able to track pilots diverting around the ash cloud while the advisory was in effect.

"We could see on plots of aircraft flight locations that they were avoiding the area, fortunately," Barber said.

Tom Winn, with the operations staff at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, said air traffic controllers didn't have any word of canceled flights due to the ash cloud. Pilots may have chosen to divert their flight paths, however.

"There's been no impact at the airport as far as I'm aware of," Winn said. </s> The Latest on the eruption of a volcano in Alaska (all times local):

A volcano on a remote island in Alaska's Aleutian chain has simmered down after erupting and prompting an aviation alert.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Friday the Bogoslof (BOH-goh-slawf) volcano sent an ash plume about 20,000 feet in the air in its eighth explosion detected since Dec. 16.

The latest eruption caused the observatory to issue its highest alert for aircraft, but the Federal Aviation Administration says the eruption has had no effect on flight operations.

Observatory geologist Chris Waythomas says the volcano has quieted down, but the alert remains in place.

He says most of the volcano's vent is underwater, which adds steam to ash plumes when magna is dislodged.

The volcano began erupting shortly before midnight Thursday. It is located on an island in the Bering Sea about 850 miles southwest of Anchorage.

A volcano on a remote island in Alaska's Aleutian chain has erupted again, prompting an aviation alert.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory says the Bogoslof (BOH-goh-slawf) volcano sent an ash plume about 20,000 feet in the air by early Friday morning.

The eruption caused the observatory to issue its highest alert level for aircraft.

During an eruption of the volcano last week, the Federal Aviation Administration said flights were rerouted around the plume.

The center says the volcano began erupting shortly before midnight Thursday and its activity was recorded by seismic data and in satellite images.

The volcano is located on an island of the same name in the Bering Sea about 850 miles southwest of Anchorage. </s> LEILANI ESTATES, Hawaii — There is a new health threat tonight on Hawaii’s Big Island. Flowing lava from the Kilauea volcano has now reached the Pacific Ocean, creating a toxic stew.

In a tower of lava, the Big Island’s volcanic beginnings burst again into view. All the molten rock is hotter than a house fire and needs some place to go. From fissure 20, we tracked its flow two miles to where the hot river pours into the Pacific Ocean.

When the lava hits the ocean, it produces a hazard called “laze,” releasing hot steam and hydrochloric acid, which is poisonous and burns on contact. The wind could shift at any time.

Experts warn the laze cloud could travel 15 miles, another worry for emergency officials along with flying “lava bombs” that can weigh as much as refrigerators. One hit a man over the weekend, shattering his shin.

“It’s a worry that people will be injured or killed, sure,” said geologist Dr. Carolyn Parcheta.

Parcheta said Kilauea’s eruption has now evolved beyond what she calls its “throat-clearing phase.”

“I think we’re moving into phase two and that’s where we’re going to see increased activity, potentially higher fountains, more lava flows,” Parcheta said, adding that the lava is spreading the length of two to four football fields an hour.

Over the last month, the Big Island has recorded 3,000 volcano-related earthquakes. Fortunately, most of the active flows keep marching south, away from where more islanders live.

But lava overwhelmed Leilani Estates, the hardest-hit neighborhood, burning and burying more than a dozen homes. About 1,700 people fled, but John Artymovich is a holdout.

“As long as the wind is blowing in the direction it has in the last two weeks, except for one or two days, it’s taking the gas all that way,” Artymovich said. </s> DENPASAR, Indonesia: Thousands of residents were evacuated from villages near an active volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali, officials said on Friday (Sep 22), as the alert status was raised to the highest level, meaning an eruption could be imminent.

Authorities warned tourists and residents to avoid camping or hiking within a 9km radius of the crater as seismic tremors rattled some areas and smoke rose above one of the world's most popular tourist spots.

"Volcanic activity remains high and there are indications of magma rising to the surface and causing tremors," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of the National Disaster Management Agency.

"There should be zero public activity within the specified radius in case there is an eruption," Nugroho said.

However, flights at Bali's international airport were operating as normal and there was little disruption to tourism operators across the rest of the island, authorities said.

Nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated so far and that number was expected to rise, officials said.

Others packed their belongings into trucks for evacuation, while more stopped to watch as clouds of white smoke rose from the crater, which is around 3,000m above sea level.

Indonesia straddles the "Pacific Ring of Fire", where several tectonic plates meet and cause 90 per cent of the world's seismic activity, according to the US Geological Survey.

Indonesia has nearly 130 active volcanoes, more than any other country.

A series of eruptions at Mount Agung between 1963 and 1964 killed more than 1,000 people and injured hundreds.
An eruption on Bogoslof Island of the Aleutian Islands disrupts air transportation routes, distributing tephra over populated areas, including Kodiak Island, 660 miles (1,060 km) away from the volcano.