Alaska Volcano Continues to Rumble, Fume

(NEWSER) - The fifth and largest eruption of Alaska’s Mount Redoubt occurred this morning, sending a plume of ash 60,000 feet above sea level, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The ash is spreading north into inhabited areas, but winds moving toward Anchorage are too high to dump ash there. “That’s going to stay there,” an expert said. While the airport there is still open, Alaska Airlines has canceled 19 flights. More»

Katla would make last year's eruption look 'small'

(NEWSER) - Another Icelandic volcano has begun to grumble—and if it erupts, it could make last year's ash cloud look like a joke, experts say. The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokul was "small," according to a scientist; it didn't seem that way to the airlines that lost $2 billion thanks to disrupted service. Now researchers are detecting strengthening earthquakes around the more dangerous Katla, a volcano named for "an evil troll," the AP reports. More»

(AP) - A volatile volcano in central Indonesia unleashed its most powerful eruption yet today, spewing hot ash and smoke thousands of feet into the air and sending panicked villagers racing back to emergency shelters. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Mount Lokon, located on northern Sulawesi island, has been dormant for years but rumbled back to life late last week. Surono, a government volcanologist who uses only one name, said today's 10:35am eruption released the greatest amount of energy so far, shooting soot and debris 11,400 feet into the sky. More»

Authorities say little risk of full eruption, issue level 1 alert

(NEWSER) - After a month's quiet, a volcano spewing ash and smoke in the Philippines today forced at least 2,000 villagers to flee to safety. Shooting ash more than a mile into the air, it was the volcano's 13th ash explosion since November, but officials said there is no sign that Mount Bulusan is poised to erupt, reports the AP . The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, which attributed the ash explosion to steam buildup, warned people to avoid the 2.5-mile danger zone around Mount Bulusan. Click for more . More»

Quakes widen fissure at rarely-seen speed: scientists

(NEWSER) - Africa is gradually breaking apart—and in the past several months, the process has accelerated. Now, amid earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, it’s happening exceptionally quickly, reports Der Spiegel . Water is threatening to flood a fracture between Ethiopia and Mozambique, scientists say; while it will be millions of years before that happens, the northern portion of the Great Rift Valley faces a much more immediate risk. More»