Alaska volcano erupts five times BreakingNews.ie_2338

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Alaska volcano erupts five times You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Five significant eruptions of Augustine Volcano sent ash clouds miles into the air and closed schools on the southern Kenai Peninsula.
But experts said yesterday’s eruptions were not expected to pile up dangerous ash in communities.
The eruptions disrupted scheduled flights when Alaska Airlines announced it would not fly to Anchorage and Fairbanks until after 8.30am today, Alaska time. Alaska Airlines announced it had cancelled 28 flights scheduled. The state ferry Kennicott’s Friday evening sailing from Kodiak to Homer was cancelled.
The mountain, on an isolated and uninhabited island about 180 miles south of Anchorage, first erupted for 44 minutes, starting shortly before 4am,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, sending a plume 34,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login,000 feet high,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, more than six miles.
A second eruption followed at 8.47am, but lasted only four and a half minutes. The Alaska Volcano Observatory said it sent up a plume at least 30,000ft high. One pilot’s report put the plume at 52,000ft or nearly 10 miles.
Pilots reported lightning in the plume, said observatory spokeswoman Jennifer Adleman. Lightning is created in ash plumes when particles rub together and generate a static charge.
The volcano erupted again at 11.22am, with a plume again reported over 30,000 feet. Seismic data indicated volcanic mudflows were probably moving down the flanks of the mountain. A fourth eruption occurred about 4.40pm and lasted for four minutes. The National Weather Service said the plume was nearly six miles high, and was heading south east towards the Barren Islands, north of Kodiak.
The fifth eruption was reported just before 7pm, with the plume reaching about 30,000 feet, and the observatory received reports of some ash falling in the community of Homer.
Similar short-lived explosive activity is expected to continue over the next several days or weeks, Adleman said, and additional eruptions could occur with little or no warning.
Yesterday’s eruptions followed two eruptions early on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service reported winds flowing generally east, pushing the plume towards Seldovia, Homer and other south west Kenai Peninsula communities.
“The plume direction is going to vary with altitude,” Adleman said. Winds were reported from the north east, south east and east, at varying altitudes, she said.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District shut down all schools from Ninilchik south, said Sam Stewart, assistant superintendent. The closure affects about 2,500 students, he said.
Bob Hopkins, meteorologist in charge of the Anchorage office, said the service issued an ash cloud advisory for residents from Ninilchik, 38 miles south of Kenai, to Kodiak Island.
About 10,000 people live on the Kenai Peninsula south of Ninilchik and another 6,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login,200 are in the city of Kodiak.
Scientists said people with respiratory problems might experience some breathing problems, but the observatory did not expect heavy accumulation of ash.
An accumulation of larger particles would depend on how much was caught by stronger winds at higher elevations, he said.