Redoubt back to Orange alert, could erupt soon

Seismicity has increased dramatically at Redoubt in Alaska over the last 24 hours, so AVO has put the volcano back on Orange/ Watch status. They say the tremors being felt now could be signs to an impending eruption (days to weeks), especially after the other events of the past week. Stay tuned! (Pardon the briefness, I'm posting from my iPod.)

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Does it count as an eruption if magma is making contact with ice, but not yet visible?

They say there is no signs of tremor, so what most likely is causing these small quakes? Could it be pressure building?

Doug - I'd say that if magma comes out of the vent, it would count as an eruption, even if it were under ice. Eruptions occurring under ice have been observed in Iceland and tend to produce glacial floods (jokulhlaups).

Ross - AVO seems to think that the quakes could be a sign of a "pressurization" of the system or magma making its way slowly into the upper parts of the volcano.

1) If magma makes contact with ice a big explosion would occur (and count as a phreatic eruption), so we can be fairly sure that this hasn't happened yet

2) AVO says: "This activity likely represents either the upward movement of magma or pressurization of the system"

By SHIRAKAWA Akira (not verified) on 22 Mar 2009 #permalink

The webicorder looks ominous since about 20:40 UTC. Looks like pretty much constant harmonic tremor.

By crosspatch (not verified) on 22 Mar 2009 #permalink

As AVO says it is now in eruption! :-)
"RED/WARNING 2009-03-22 22:56:25 - VAN/VONA
An eruption of Mt. Redoubt began at approximately 22:38 AKDT, March 22, 2009 (0638 UTC). AVO is raising the aviation color code to Red and the alert level to Warning. Initial height of the eruption cloud is estimated at less than 20,000 ft above sea level at present. Further reports will be issued as more information becomes available"

Redoubt has erupted:

An eruption of Mt. Redoubt began at approximately 22:38 AKDT, March 22, 2009 (0638 UTC). AVO is raising the aviation color code to Red and the alert level to Warning. Initial height of the eruption cloud is estimated at less than 20,000 ft above sea level at present. Further reports will be issued as more information becomes available.

Redoubt Volcano erupts

Thar she blows! It's finally happening, and some of the monitoring equipment has quit working. This is it, kids!

As of last night, March 22, Redout has erupted and has had five explosive events. AVO has elevated the color code to red and the alert level to WARNING. There is also an ashfalladvisory in effect that can be accesed at http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php

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