Alaskan volcano erupts, highest aviation alert issued
An eruption of an Alaskan volcano on Sunday led to the temporary raising of the highest aviation alert, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO).
The eruption took place on Alaska’s Bogoslof Island, which is part of the Aleutian island chain and sits under the flight path of many flights from Asia to North America. The event caused for a code “red” aviation alert to be issued, code which was subsequently downgraded to “orange”. This is because, according to the United States Geological Survey, “ash and aircraft do not mix, as volcanic ash is abrasive, melts at jet engine temperatures, and can cause engine failure.”
According to the Observatory, the cloud from the eruption reached at least 35,000 feet, potentially going as high 45,000 ft. “We actually went to color code red this afternoon because of numerous lightning detections and increased seismic signals,” Jeffrey Freymueller of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks declared.
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“Lightning in the Aleutians is mostly due to volcanic plumes, as the meteorological conditions for lightning are not common. The combination of lightning and seismic data allowed us to go to red within about half an hour of the start of the eruption,” Freymueller added.
A report from the Observatory stated that the volcano “remains at a heightened state of unrest and in an unpredictable condition,” adding that “additional explosions producing high-altitude volcanic clouds could occur at any time.”
Furthermore, low-level activity could “pose a hazard in the immediate vicinity of the volcano.
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