Volcano in Aleutian Islands sends up ash cloud
Published 10:00 pm, Monday, February 6, 2006
ANCHORAGE -- A volcano in the Aleutian Islands coughed up an ash cloud Monday, prompting the Alaska Volcano Observatory to raise the mountain's threat level to code red. Code red, the highest threat level, means a significant eruption is occurring.
Satellites detected the cloud after it detached from the summit of 5,676-foot Cleveland Volcano, near the Aleutian chain's halfway point.
Scientists said the 22,000-foot high ash cloud is relatively small, about two miles long, but could be a menace to flights in the area. No communities are expected to receive ash fallout, and there were no signs of continuous ash emissions.
It's the second volcano to erupt in Alaska this year. Augustine Volcano in south-central Alaska began spewing ash in mid-January. Cleveland, on uninhabited Chuginadak Island, last erupted in July. Normal eruption activity includes short-lived explosions of ash.