Alaska: Shishaldin volcano spews thick ash cloud in Aleutian village

An Alaska volcano spewed thick ash cloud about 5 miles (8 kilometres) into the sky on January 19 triggering a warning to the aviation and dusting one small fishing village, according to the officials. Shishaldin Volcano is one of the most active volcano in Alaska. It spewed out a plume of ash detected by the satellite imagery which was as high as 28,000 feet (8,535 m) above sea level, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a joint federal-state-university office that monitors volcanoes of the states.

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Plume stormed the east and Gulf of Alaska

The observatory said that the plume stretched about 90 miles (145 kilometres) as of midday, storming mostly the east and over the Gulf of Alaska. David Fee, the observatory’s University of Alaska Fairbanks coordinating scientist said that a sprinkling of ash was reported in the small Aleutian village of False Pass which is situated 23 miles (37 kilometres) northeast of the Shishaldin. 
The observatory reported that there was a stream of red-hot lava pouring out of Shishaldin.

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'Code Red' warning issued

Shishaldin has been in an eruptive phase since the summer months of July. Fee said that Sunday's event was so serious that a 'code red' warning has been issued for air traffic to avoid the area which is the second such warning in the volcano’s current eruptive phase. He added that it is a higher plume and has a higher concentration. Shishaldin is about 680 miles (1,095 kilometres) southwest of Anchorage and is known to be the highest mountain in the Aleutian chain, measuring 9,373 feet. according to the observatory, the upper half of the peak are normally covered with snow and ice. 

(With agency inputs)

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