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A vent in Alaska could be prim to take fire , which would belike get off avalanche of red-hot ash and mud cascade down down the passel ’s slopes .
Mount Spurr , a snow - covered stratovolcano that sit 77 miles ( 124 kilometers ) across the Cook Inlet from Anchorage , has been shuddering with small earthquake since April 2024 , according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory ( AVO ) . This action is likely tie in to new magma go beneath the muckle . It ’s possible this drive could stop without an irruption , but the volcano may also be ready to foul up , the AVOwarned in an advisory .
Mount Spurr’s Crater Peak, as viewed from the south on Feb. 7 during a helicopter based gas and photo survey.
" It ’s had a higher - than - normal issue of earthquakes for many months,“Matt Haney , the scientist - in - charge of the AVO at the U.S. Geological Survey , told Live Science . " But over the preceding month , that itself increased , and also the positioning of the earthquake changed . "
The earthquakes migrated from near the mountain ’s visor to a new area about 2 miles ( 3 kilometer ) down the slope — near a side venthole called Crater Peak . This vent last blew in 1992 and also grow an eruption in 1953 . In both case , the volcano belch out columns of ash tree 65,000 feet ( 20,000 meters ) into the atmosphere . There ’s a 50 - 50 hazard this could take place again , Haney order .
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Earthquake activity has increased significantly at Mount Spurr over the last two years, and it’s ramping up even more.
The other likely scenario is that the magma movement ends without any volcanic action occur . Mount Spurr has gotten restless before without belch . For example , in 2004 and 2005 , the vent saw an increment in earthquakes , but it had quietened down by 2006 , Haney said .
The least potential scenario is an volcanic eruption at the mountain ’s peak crater , which has n’t go on at Mount Spurr in the last 5,000 eld . Not only are height volcanic crater eruptions less frequent , Haney said , the movement of the earthquakes toward Crater Peak suggests that the mountain probably wo n’t bodge its top — just its flank .
If an eruption does take billet , the mountain could give off explosive blast of ash tree and pyroclastic flows — avalanches of blistering gas , ash and John Rock that move at over 200 miles per hour ( 320 km / h ) . In addition , melting snow and ice might induce mudflows send for lahar . A acme extravasation would potentially involve lava flows from the volcanic crater .
as luck would have it , there are n’t any communities in the potential itinerary of lahars or pyroclastic flows , Haney said . For humankind , the main impact of Mount Spurr ’s eruption would likely be ash . In 1992 , the eructation at Crater Peak shut down Anchorage ’s aerodrome and sprinkle the city with 0.1 column inch ( 3 millimeters ) of ash .
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" Today there are even more flights coming in and out of the Anchorage airport , so if something like that were to happen that would be very disruptive , Haney aver . " A large ash swarm might also affect flight of steps that traverse Alaska on their way between North America and Asia .
About three weeks before the 1992 eructation , the vent ’s frequent seism transformed into a consistent seismic sign call a tremor , Haney order . That ’s what he and his team are see for now .
" If we pick up this more longsighted - duration shaking of the volcano in our seismic data , that would be a more clear indication that the tempestuousness is advance toward a more certain blast , " he said .
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