Aircraft warned of possible Pacific volcano eruption

DAVID BRISCOE, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
04-16-2004
Dateline: HONOLULU
Government geologists warned aircraft flying over the Northern Mariana islands that a possible eruption of a volcano on an uninhabited American island could disrupt a heavily traveled air route by spewing ash into the air.

Swarms of seismic activity from Anatahan Volcano, 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of the U.S. commonwealth's capital on Saipan, started early March 31, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a news release Thursday.

Anatahan last erupted from May to August last year, covering the island that bares its name in several feet (a meter) of ash but causing no casualties or damage to communities in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, where about 70,000 people live.

The islands, 3,800 miles (6,115 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii, have nine active volcanoes. An estimated 25,000 commercial jetliners a year _ about one every 20 minutes _ fly through the airspace over the islands. The even busier air corridors between Asia and Australia and New Zealand also would be threatened during a major eruption, officials said.

During last year's eruption, a spectacular cloud of volcanic ash rose several miles (kilometers) into the air over Anatahan. Ash clouds, which can spread out and drift for days over thousands of miles (kilometers), can endanger aircraft by clogging up their engines, lowering visibility and hindering navigational and operational instruments.

"The best safety strategy is for aviators to know the locations of ash clouds and avoid them," USGS said.

Regional and international flights had to be rerouted for two days at the peak of last year's eruption.

Earthquake activity on Anatahan peaked a week ago, with about a quake a minute, but new lava was spotted during the weekend forming a dome inside the Anatahan crater, geologists said.

"Earthquakes are still occurring frequently, and steam and ash emissions and small explosion are likely to occur," the USGS said.

Volcanologists have been warning for years that volcanoes pose a hazard to efforts to settle and develop the lush outer islands of the Northern Marianas.

The islands' volcanoes are continuously monitored by the commonwealth's Emergency Management Office on Saipan as well as USGS scientists in Hawaii, Washington and California, using Internet and wireless technology.

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