WASHINGTON, March 9 (Prensa Latina) Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory in the United States warned today of the possibility of an eruption of the Tanaga volcano, after recording a series of earthquakes under the summit of the mountain.
Seismic activity has begun to increase “slowly” with relatively small telluric movements under the volcano, which is located on an uninhabited island, according to a post on the observatory’s Facebook account.
But they were on the rise and they were starting to detect “a great number of earthquakes, one after another, several earthquakes a minute,” said John Bauer, a research geophysicist with the USGS (USGS).
“This indicates that we are seeing significant unrest at the volcano,” she added, and as a result, the volcano’s alert level has been raised from “Normal” to “Warning.”
This is the second of four levels used by the Geological Survey, which is part of the US Department of the Interior.
An advisory alert means that the volcano “shows signs of unrest elevated above the known background level,” as determined by the USGS.
The volcano, which is monitored by local seismic and infrasound networks, regional lightning and ultrasound detection networks, and satellite data, is the tallest of the three volcanic edifices on Tanaga Island.
The volcano’s last reported eruption was in 1914 and prior to that, eruptions were reported in 1763, 1770, 1791 and 1829.
The island is located in the Andrianof Islands, about 50 miles west of Adak and 1,260 miles southwest of Anchorage.
ro / adr
“Award-winning alcohol trailblazer. Hipster-friendly internetaholic. Twitter ninja. Infuriatingly humble beer lover. Pop culture nerd.”