Earthquake swarm awakens Alaskan volcano, dormant for 182 years: alert level raised

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

August 31, 2012 – ALASKA – A series of small earthquakes which began Wednesday night and continued into Thursday near a long-dormant volcanic peak in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has prompted researchers to raise the alert level for the Little Sitkin volcano. The nearly 4,000-foot-high Little Sitkin volcano is named for the island where it resides, located in the Rat Islands in the Aleutian chain. The volcano has shown little activity since scientists have started observing it, with only three questionable eruptive events at the volcano since that time. The most recent eruption may have come in 1900, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. However, the Smithsonian Global Volcanism program documents the last eruption as 1830. Still, the AVO page for Little Sitkin mentions there may have been a “cataclysmic eruption” on the island sometime after the last ice age, which ended more than 11,000 years ago. Seismic equipment located near the volcano began detecting a “”warm of high-frequency earthquakes” at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, the AVO reports. The earthquakes continued through the night into Thursday, prompting the alert level at the volcano being raised. The alert level is currently at yellow, which means that the “volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest above known background level.” Additionally, aircraft traveling in the area are advised to exercise caution. The volcano is located in a remote part of the Aleutians, about 35 miles northwest of the World War II outpost of Amchitka and 200 miles west of Adak. Little Sitkin joins two other Alaska volcanoes, Iliamna and Cleveland, currently sitting at elevated alert levels. –Alaska Dispatch

Giant warehouses with food to last for 5 years: Alaska begins prepping for major natural disasters

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

August 29, 2012 – ALASKA – Alaska is known for pioneering, self-reliant residents who are accustomed to remote locations and harsh weather. Despite that, Gov. Sean Parnell worries a major earthquake or volcanic eruption could leave the state’s 720,000 residents stranded and cut off from food and supply lines. His answer: Build giant warehouses full of emergency food and supplies, just in case. Weather isn’t the only thing that can wreak havoc in Alaska, where small planes are a preferred mode of transportation and the drive from Seattle to Juneau requires a ferry ride and 38 hours in a car. The state’s worst natural disaster was in 1964, when a magnitude-9.2 earthquake and resulting tsunami killed 131 people and disrupted electrical systems, water mains and communication lines in Anchorage and other cities. “We have a different motivation to do this, because help is a long ways away,” said John Madden, Alaska’s emergency management director. The state plans two food stockpiles in or near Fairbanks and Anchorage, two cities that also have military bases. Construction on the two storage facilities will begin this fall, and the first food deliveries are targeted for December. The goal is to have enough food to feed 40,000 people for up to a week, including three days of ready-to-eat meals and four days of bulk food that can be prepared and cooked for large groups. To put that number into perspective, Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, has about 295,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and Juneau, its third largest, about 31,000. It’s not unusual for states that routinely experience hurricanes or other large-scale disasters to have supplies like water, ready-to-eat meals, cots and blankets. But Alaska is interested in stocking food with at least a five-year shelf life that meets the nutrition, health and cultural requirements of the state’s unique demographics. That means, as part of the effort, trying to incorporate cultural foods like salmon for Alaska Natives as well as foods that would be more common in urban areas, state emergency management spokesman Jeremy Zidek said. An estimated 90 percent of commodities entering Alaska are delivered through the Port of Anchorage. Air service is also a critical link to the outside world and generally the only way to reach many rural communities. A volcanic blast emitting a large amount of smoke and ash could disrupt supply lines by air and water for an extended period, Madden said, and an earthquake could knock out airport runways or ports. Those are just some of the disasters that might require emergency supplies. –Business Week

Alaska’s Cleveland volcano has explosive ash burst

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

June 20, 2012 – ALASKA - Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot (1,730 meter) peak on an uninhabited island 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, had an explosive eruption at about 2:05 p.m. local time, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported. A pilot flying in the area estimated that the ash cloud rose to 35,000 feet above sea level, reported the observatory, which is a joint federal-state organization that monitors Alaska’s numerous active volcanoes. However, satellite imagery shows only a weak ash signal, suggesting a thin cloud that dissipated quickly, said Stephanie Prejean, a U.S. Geological Survey seismologist at the observatory in Anchorage. “It was just one explosion, which was very typical of the thing Cleveland has been doing in the last year,” Prejean said. It is possible that the cloud rose to less than 35,000 feet, as the height was just one pilot’s estimate, she said. Pilots have been advised of potential risks from Cleveland, which might explode again, Prejean said. “It could do that any time,” she said. Cleveland has been in an off-and-on eruptive phase since last summer. The volcano has at times oozed lava out of its summit crater, punctuated by occasional small explosions, none of which had created clouds reaching above 20,000 feet until Tuesday. Although Cleveland is one of the most active of Alaska’s scores of volcanoes, there is no on-site seismic monitoring equipment. The Alaska Volcano Observatory must rely on satellite imagery, records of lightning strikes, witness reports and other evidence to determine if an eruption has taken place, Prejean said. That is in contrast to volcanoes closer to Anchorage, where the observatory has set up seismic-monitoring networks that allow scientists to see signals before eruptions happen, she said. Before Tuesday, there had been an apparent slowdown in activity at Cleveland. The Alaska Volcano Observatory three weeks ago lowered the alert level for the volcano to a “yellow” advisory from the more urgent “orange” watch status. “Obviously, it has some oomph left in it,” said Tina Neal, an Alaska Volcano Observatory geologist. Meanwhile, two moderate earthquakes rattled the western Aleutians on Tuesday. The first, registered at magnitude 6.0, hit Tuesday morning about 90 miles northwest of Attu, the westernmost island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain, according to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. The second, at about noon, measured at magnitude 5.7 and was centered about 65 miles northwest of Attu, the center said. –Reuters