Authorities warn of possible eruption of the Alaskan volcano after recording several earthquakes
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Tanaga volcano, inactive for a century, is delivering warning signals according to scientists, so the alert level was raised, although without putting any community in danger
Scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory released some indications of a possible eruption of the Tanaga volcano after earthquakes were recorded below the volcano's summit.
Seismic activity began to “slowly” increase under the volcano, which is located on an uninhabited island, where activity had intensified and two or three earthquakes occurred every minute.
“We started seeing a lot of earthquakes, one after another, several per minute,” said John Power, a research geophysicist with the US Geological Survey.
Tanaga Volcano in Alaska has not erupted in over a century. #FOX13 https://t.co/oOxF1JI05T
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According to reports from international agencies, all the earthquakes have been relatively small, with magnitudes between 2 and 3, the observatory said. Its location below the volcano's summit poses a threat.
Tanaga Volcano stands 5,925 feet tall and is located in the western Aleutians. There are no communities or structures there, but Adak is about 65 miles away and could see ash fall.
As a result, the volcano's alert level was raised from “NORMAL” to “WARNING”. This is the second of the four levels used which translates to “showing signs of elevated activity above the known background level”.
The last known eruption of Tanaga was in 1914 . If the volcano were to erupt, the biggest threat would be to aircraft.
“It's very different from what you would see, for example, in Hawaii or Kilauea or Mauna Loa, where you see these beautiful red rivers of lava flowing down the side of the volcano,” Power said.
For now, the volcano is monitored with local seismic and infrasound networks, regional lightning and infrasound detection networks, and satellite data.