January 18, 2006 — By Reuters

ANCHORAGE — A volcano on an uninhabited island off the coast of Alaska erupted again Tuesday, shooting ash miles into the air, a scientist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.

The eruption from the Augustine volcano, which is about 175 miles southwest of Anchorage, sent a cloud of ash 8.5 miles above sea level. It was the ninth eruption since the volcano rumbled to life last week.

The National Weather Service issued advisories of ash fall, which poses a risk to people with respiratory problems and can damage the engines of aircraft and vehicles on the ground, to the communities on the Kenai Peninsula and in nearby bays.

Based on past eruptions in 1976 and 1986, Augustine's explosions are expected to continue, said a scientist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a joint federal-state office.

"They're still an accumulation of eruptive behavior of a single volcano over time," said Jennifer Adleman, a geologist at the observatory. "It could be up to two weeks, based on what we know of recent eruptions."

The 4,134-foot volcano forms its own uninhabited island in Cook Inlet, the channel that runs from the Anchorage area to the Gulf of Alaska.

Last week's ash bursts, which were reported as high as 10 miles above sea level, prompted some school closures and briefly grounded some south-bound Alaska Airlines flights.

Source: Reuters