Cleveland Volcano in Alaska erupted this weekend and caused some disruptions for travelers.
According to Reuters, The remote and active volcano rumbled and exploded three times, which sent ash, steam and gas into an area that is important for air traffic. The Cleveland volcano rests before a major air-traffic route between North America and Asia.
According to experts, the low-level explosions were not strong enough to cause significant problems for planes, but some authorities didn't want to take any chances. Federal aviation authorities forced some planes to divert to the north of the volcano as a precaution.
A remote but long-restless Alaska volcano rumbled to life on Saturday with three explosions and started emitting a continuous plume of ash, steam and gas in an area important to air traffic, scientists said.
The low-level explosions at Cleveland Volcano, which lies below a major air-traffic route between North America and Asia, were not severe enough to cause a significant threat to planes, said experts.
But the incident did prompt federal aviation authorities to divert some traffic north of the volcano as a precaution, said Rick Wessels, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
"Based on the signals we can see, we think it's continuously in an eruption right now," Rick Wessels, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory told Reuters.
The Cleveland Volcano is located about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage and it has been active since 2011. Fortunately it is located on an uninhabited island, with very few living anywhere close to it, but the volcano does have the potential to cause an aviation emergency in the event of a major eruption.
The volcano, which measures 5,676-feet, started spewing lava in the summer of 2011. Since then, there have been roughly 20 to 25 explosions, but Wessels says Saturdays explosions were rare.
"We haven't seen a phase like this where we've had multiple explosions," he told Reuters.
The gas and ash released from the volcano reached as high as 15,000 feet, which is too low to affect planes that typically fly at 30,000 feet. "Once it gets to about twice that, we get really worried," Wessels said.
In the event of the the explosions becoming stronger, the National Weather Service will have to tell mariners to avoid the area and scientists are tracking the activity of the volcano closely.
"It's got us all paying attention. We're not sure if it will escalate or do what Cleveland does, which is to settle down after small explosions," he said.
Since there is no seismic equipment on the mountain, it is difficult for scientists to monitor the volcano so they must rely on satellite data and signals from another volcano located roughly 50 miles from the Cleveland Volcano.
An eruption of Cleveland Volcano is believed to have killed a soldier who was on the island during World War II.
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