10 rescued after Aleutian volcano erupts without warning
Originally published Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 4:33 p.m.
Updated Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 8:37 a.m.
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!ANCHORAGE -- A volcano erupted Saturday with little warning on a remote island in Alaska, sending residents of a nearby ranch fleeing from falling ash and volcanic rock.
The Okmok Caldera erupted late Saturday morning, just hours after seismologists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory began detecting a series of small tremors.
The explosion flung an ash cloud at least 50,000 feet high, said geophysicist Steve McNutt.
Ten people, including three children, were at Fort Glenn, a private cattle ranch six miles south of the volcano on Umnak Island, located in the western Aleutians about 860 miles southwest of Anchorage.
They were later picked up by the fishing boat Tara Gaila, which responded to a Coast Guard request for emergency assistance. The Tara Gaila was taking them to Dutch Harbor, the Coast Guard said late Saturday night.
The ranch residents had managed to call military police on Kodiak Island on a satellite phone before losing their connection, according to the Coast Guard.
At the same time it issued the general request for assistance from boats in the area, the Coast Guard diverted the cutters Jarvis and Melon to head toward the scene from their patrols in the Bering Sea.
A rescue helicopter from the Melon responded but had to land in Dutch Harbor after flying through some volcanic ash, causing some damage to the aircraft, the Coast Guard said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Lee Goldsmith said those at Fort Glenn reported rock and ash falling around them.
The Fort Glenn residents initially had planned to use a small private helicopter to fly to nearby Unalaska Island, which is separated from Fort Glenn by a five-mile channel.
Okmok is 60 miles west of the busy fishing port of Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island. Ash was reported falling in the region, McNutt said.
Two planned flights from Unalaska were canceled in response to the eruption, said Jerry Lucas, a spokesman for PenAir, the primary airliner serving the area.
The 3,500-foot volcano last erupted in 1997, according to McNutt. The volcano has shown signs of increased activity during the last few months, he said.
Previous eruptions have typically produced lava flows, but the volcano center could not immediately determine if that had occurred in Saturday's explosion, McNutt said.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
With environmentalist reading this site often think it was nice for Newsminer to estimate how far ashes went. Why not just say black smoke smolder over 5 miles to do major damage to the atmosphere? Sure some Californians would be alarmed. (But there fires are still burning.)
with the fires and the volcano, how much carbon is put into the atmosphere?
Well-It looks like we`ll Never get rid of that dammed emission test
now!!!----Nice goin okmok ##*><ARRRRGH.
I find I would really like more info with these articles. Every time I read one of these short, choppy articles, I have unanswered questions. And they sound so unfinished. Like is the island inhabited? Did anyone have to evacuate? Is it threatening life or property? Do they think it will erupt more based on its history, signs, etc.?
2cold4me That's was a good ? I asked NM that once about carbon emmision the said that Alaska has wildfires that are much bigger then California. So that made me wonder for the number of people per square mile Alaska -California seems like California has plenty more people to handle something like that. But it would be hard to do when you shopping for a new par of $500.00 of shoes and getting the latest on Greenpeace with you iphone.
aurora seems like Alaska Daily News has better information on what happened.
aurora, the short articles tend to be AP bulletins. They're typically replaced by longer versions as information becomes available.
I blame this volcano eruption on George Bush! And Dick Cheney!
(I wanted to be the first)
It is amazing that no matter what the article there are those who need rag on environmentalists or Bush whether tongue in cheek or not.
How could this be a republicans fault? If it was up to the republicans, they would have capped it, piped it, and sold us the heat for 50 cents/BTU...Obviously, this is the fault of the democrats and greenies who wish to let nature have its way...
Or mabey it was terrorists testing Saddam Huseins seismic accelerator that the UN looked for but never found...
Nightshade-
I think it's hilarious that you think there aren't any rough-and-tough Alaskans with $500 shoes or iPhones. LOL
volcanos tend to have a cooling effect on the planet. the debris blocks out income solar radiation. i bet one krakatoa sized eruption could ruin all the global warming work we've done so far and send us into a decade long little ice age.
well this is the second time this story had been changed since my first comment but the qoute was about Californians which now seems a little outdated because soon it'll not be smoke ash it'll be fireballs, smoke, ash. I know Alaskans are gretty people that's what make you able to take this on the shoulder. But other places where there worried about looking things in a crystal ball and a taro card reading has ever came out with the outcomes they would ever like to see in there future. Some thing happen it always have and always will but with tech. being as fast as know sometimes the worst happens not just in home town of yours but everywhere we just know about it a lot faster...
I agree polarmark this about the plan that everthing heats before it cools it'll happen again might be too soon for everyone to it won't happen tomorrow. After buying my new pair of vintage 1992 Jordans off Ebay I just can't wait to use then next spring....by the way how come my Iphone says system crashed trying to reconnect? Oh maybe because I'm not really buying the useless fades?
Al Gore's whole hypathical analogy would be what a lie? Dosen't really matter who anyone votes for then does it? They all have lies to carry with them. Sarah needs to send the National Guard to put out the volcano as soon as possible other wise Arnold will look like the Terminator again.
smart...
how did the comments get soooo far off topic?
Because the News-Miner won't crack down on trolls like Nightshade.
I guess the volcano was just trying to produce all it's natural gas before it found itself in court.
You're not far off about using the heat from the volcano for power. It is close to what Chena Hot Springs is using for the Geothermal. Maybe God is trying to tell us where we can get our energy and he just needs to hit a few of us over the head with rocks for us to get it.
For the Cheechackos that live in the BIG CITY....LOOK OUT YOUR WINDOW AT MOUNT SPUR!!! Yep, that old fellow has blown his top in recent memory. Remember, don't turn on your windshield wipers when you get dusted.
the only people up here with $500 shoes are Anchorage folks. They can afford them since their heat is dirt cheap.
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.