Looking south at the northern flank of Redoubt volcano on March 15. A dusting of dark ash can be seen covering an area near the summit.
Vulcanologists in Alaska briefly raised the alert status for the state’s rumbling Redoubt volcano to orange after the mountain spewed steam and generated a swarm of tremors on Sunday.
That steam carried the first ash emission from Redoubt since the volcano’s last series of eruptions in 1989-90.
A level orange is comparable to a "watch," and is just below level red, which signals an eruption is imminent or in progress.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said that a new eruption has not occurred, and gave a 50-50 chance that one could happen over the next several days.
Scientists there cautioned that if Redoubt does erupt, residents and tourists on the nearby Kenai Peninsula, and perhaps metropolitan Anchorage, might experience a shallow dusting of ash.
Redoubt is located about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Anchorage. It rumbled back to life for the first time in nearly 20 years during late January.