A volcano near Alaska’s largest city is showing new signs of unrest, with experts saying the likelihood of an eruption at Mount Spurr in the next few weeks or months has increased.

A volcano near Alaska’s largest city is showing new signs of unrest, with experts saying the likelihood of an eruption at Mount Spurr in the next few weeks or months has increased.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Wednesday that it had measured during recent overflights “significantly elevated volcanic gas emissions,” and said signs indicated an eruption was likely, though not certain, in the weeks or months ahead.

“We expect to see further increases in seismic activity, gas emissions and surface heating prior to an eruption, if one were to occur,” the observatory said in a statement. “Such stronger unrest may provide days to weeks of additional warning.”

    • ARealAlaskan@lemmy.caEnglish
      51·
      8 hours ago

      I live here.

      There is no real good place to evacuate to. All of the large population centers will likely be impacted, and most of those places aren’t “large” at all. Literally nowhere to go, if we wanted to, except to the lower 48, or Canada.

      The distance Alaskan cities are from anywhere else makes evacuation logistically … Challenging.

      The volcano could blow tomorrow, or in 6 months. You cannot realistically evacuate and abandon your entire life for a totally indeterminate amount of time.

      We had a similar eruption in 1992. It was fine. Airport was down for a day.

      The only real danger is volcanic ash. The volcano is 70ish miles off the coast.

      Everyone here is aware. We will all just hunker down. 3-7 days of food in the house, and water. Extra pet food. Schools and businesses will probably shut down for a few days in some towns. No driving, so the ash doesn’t get kicked back up. Tape all of our windows to keep ash out, get dog booties, cotton to stuff their ears if you have pets that have to go outside. Swim goggles for pets and people. Respirators or masks do you don’t breath it in. Might have to go a few days without electronics.

      All in all, everyone I know is just annoyed this will happen in the summer, and we’ll be stuck inside. Summer is precious here, losing any of the days suck.

      The far, far greater danger is the wildfire season, it’s been a very dry winter here. We always have lots of fires in the state, but this year will likely be worse, and with all the “winning” in the government right now, it is unclear what the firefighting response/capabilities will be. THAT could get plenty of people killed, and absolutely devastate out cities and individuals economic stability, which, frankly, is already not stable.

  • BetaBlake@lemmy.world
    12·
    24 hours ago

    Trump will just say it’s a lost cause and try to sell Alaska to Russia, and call it a great business deal