Mt. Redoubt volcano's 'unrest' recalls 1989 eruption

The latest from the Alaska Volcano Observatory on the status of Mt. Redoubt: "Unrest at Redoubt Volcano continues. Seismic activity remains elevated above background."

Sounds like a broken record, but at least Mt. Redoubt is providing ample warning and has all of Alaska on alert.

Longtime residents surely recall a five-month stretch that began in late 1989 during which the 10,197-foot volcano provided a string of eruptions and a steady outpouring of smoke and ash.

A United Press International article that Dec. 15 featured this initial announcement: "Redoubt Volcano southwest of Anchorage shook with thousands of small earthquakes Thursday, then erupted and shot a cloud of ash seven miles high."

Farther down in the story: "The eruption followed 24 hours of constant warning tremors, which calmed down after the eruption ended, then picked up again.... The ash plume — which shot 35,000 feet above the two-mile-high mountain — was carried toward Anchorage by strong winds... But the ash cloud skirted Anchorage and dusted towns beyond the city."

A day after a second, more violent eruption occurred that Dec. 17, the Associated Press reported: "Haze from the volcano drifted over Anchorage, Alaska's largest city with more than 200,000 people. The debris caused power outages, disrupted air travel and triggered public-health warnings."

But it was Christmas week and the economy was not in shambles. Shoppers, according to the report, filled "the streets and malls over the weekend."

—Pete Thomas

Photo: Mt. Redoubt during an eruption on April 21, 1990, as viewed from Alaska's Kenai Peninsula.

Credit: J. Warren / AVO-USGS Images

Comments

[CarLee]

Omg!! I love you hear about new things, and this really grabed my attention.

[jade]

are you lying to me you old fart!?