An airline passenger captured the moment of his life, by taking the
photograph of an Alaskan volcano erupting disseminating ash 20,000 feet into
the air. The passenger was travelling on a Penair flight from Dutch Harbor to
Anchorage in Alaska yesterday evening. So, he said that he had heard that the
Pavlof Volcano on the Aluetian Islands had started to eruption ash so the pilot
flew his plane closer in order for passengers to get a better look. Pavlof is
in a volcano-rich, sparsely populated region about 625 miles southwest of
Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula. Pavlof Volcano has been one of the most
active in the United States since 1980, with eruptions recorded in 1980, 1981,
1983, 1986–1988, 1996–1997, 2007, 2013, twice in 2014 and most recently in March
2016.
Therefore,
U.S. Geological Survey confirmed the eruption of Pavlof Volcano, 600 miles
southwest of Anchorage led to tremors on the ground. Thus, they’ve also raised the volcano alert
level to “warning” and the aviation warning to “red”. Although, regardless of
the eruption there are no evacuations taking place or the ash affecting flights
in the region. The volcano is around 4.4
miles in diameter, has had 40 well-known eruptions and is 'one of the most
regularly active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc.
However, the previous eruption was taken place in 2013; ash plumes
raised 27,000 feet, whereas other eruptions have formed clouds as high as
49.000 feet.
Moreover
the community closest to the volcano is Cold Bay, which is approximately 37
miles south west of it. It is Alaska’s second most active volcano has erupted
over 40 times in recorded history. Although the first one is Shishaldin has had
around 55 eruptions. Furthermore, Pavlof is amongst 52 historically active
volcanoes in the Aleutian arc of the “Ring of Fire” string of volcanoes
encircling the Pacific Ocean. Thus, the future threat of eruptions is
considered on the high sides, as much of this threat comes from the possibility
of disruption of nearby air routes by large releases of ash. The first recorded
ascent of Pavlof Volcano was on June 27, 1928, but straightforward nature of
the climb suggests that an earlier unrecorded ascent may have occurred. The
second ascent was in June 1950. However,
the main challenge of climbing this peak is its remoteness and the consequent
difficulty of access.
