Alaskan Volcano Threatens Eruption

This eruption of Mount Redoubt on April 21, 1990, disrupted air transportation on key routes between North America and Asia.

Alaska’s Mount Redoubt volcano threatened to spew ash over metropolitan Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula during the weekend for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Several hours of volcanic tremors alerted scientists to the mountain's renewed activity, prompting them to warn air traffic authorities of a possible eruption.

A massive plume of ash during a 1989-90 eruption disrupted international air traffic and coated Anchorage and other parts of southern Alaska in a thin layer of volcanic debris.

Geologists flew over the volcano on Monday, located 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Anchorage, and found it huffing out a thin plume up of sulphur gasses and water vapor, but not yet erupting.

Officials in the state’s largest city urged residents to prepare for a possible eruption by outfitting homes with a supply of respirators, extra food, water and other supplies.

The Anchorage Daily News reports they also encouraged stocking up on large plastic bags to cover appliances, extra air filters for cars, and windshield washer fluid.

Redoubt's rumblings subsided on Monday, but the Alaska Volcano Observatory kept the aviation alert code at level orange.

Photo: J. Warren