2008-07-28 16:51:58 – VAN/VONA Satelliteimages indicate ash may have reached 35,000 ft in a plume heading E to SE from the volcano. The intensity and duration of seismicity from the eruption at Okmok has changed from continuous tremor to a pulsating signal over the past 7.0 hours. These pulses are strong enough to be easily identified on seismometers on Makushin Volcano on Unalaska Island.
Stronger explosive activity could resume at any time with little or no warning.
Two weeks ago we were all excited to discover that the Okmok Volcano had erupted on the Alaska Peninsula. Tom came home and told us that flights were canceled to Anchorage because the ash cloud reached 20,000 feet. We jumped on the Alaska Volcano Observatory site to find out more about this eruption. This eruption is as big as Mt. St. Helens. 30 people where evacuated from the village near the volcano this morning.
This week I am taking earth science classes at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.The Alaska Volcano Observatory is housed at UAF. Today we are learning to use the computer imaging tools and data to study volcanos. One of our instructors is going to be late because seismic activity has doubled on Okmok and he has to man the observatory. In the meantime we are learning to read satellite image data to identify ash clouds. The scientist who is working with us authored a modeling system to predict ash clouds. This is extremely important to airplane travel. Ash will gum up in an airplane engine.
