Alaska braces for possible volcanic eruption

[Thom Little]

A restless volcano near Alaska's most populated region is being watched by scientist and officials, who warned on Thursday of the risk of clouds of ash and a tsunami from a possible eruption.

The intensifying rumblings in the past few weeks at Augustine Volcano, an island peak 175 miles southwest of Anchorage in Cook Inlet, have produced a series of steam explosions, releases of sulfur gas and signs that there may be an eruption similar to events in 1986 and 1976 which sent ash clouds as high as 40,000 feet, scientists said.

There has even been an increase of 1 inch at the top of the 4,134-foot (1,260-m) volcano, a sign that seismic activity is causing the summit to bulge slightly, said John Power, a seismologist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a joint office run by the U.S. Geological Survey and state agencies.

"All of these things are very typical of what you would expect to see in a volcano that is reawakening," Power said.



http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2005-12-23T054637Z_01_KRA307997_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENVIRONMENT-VOLCANO.xml

[aquart]

1. Gonna return the bridge money? No?

God is so strict.

[acmavm]

2. Hey, what did Alaskans do? Elect a school board who's against the

teaching of ID? Wait, that's somewhere else.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Restless volcano to the north

and a 6.1 quake to the south in Ecuador today.

Meanwhile, the California coast is aroused with cascade after cascade of gollywhompin major mojo waves.


Mother I hear you under my feet.
Mother I hear your heartbeat.
Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya hey-ho.
Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya heyyyyyyyy-ho.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Hmmm.. wonder how the Yellowstone Caldera is faring as well?

[nodehopper]

6. all of those things have always happened and will always happen...

[WhoDoYouTrust]

5. It's not too far from us.

I watched Mt. St. Helens blow in 1980 from my front window.

I always enjoyed seeing this "little" guy sitting out in the middle of Cook Inlet while halibut fishing. We have been told to be prepared for eruption, as the last time it went I guess it got our area pretty good.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about.