ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT
U.S. Geological Survey
Monday, March 12, 2012, 12:10 PM AKDT (Monday, March 12, 2012, 20:10 UTC)

ILIAMNA VOLCANO (VNUM #313020)
60°1'55" N 153°5'30" W, Summit Elevation 10016 ft (3053 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: ADVISORY
Current Aviation Color Code: YELLOW

Seismic activity at Iliamna Volcano remains above background. This activity does not mean that an eruption is imminent or certain. A similar seismic swarm was detected in 1996/1997 that was likely related to an intrusion of magma at depth did not culminate in an eruption.


Iliamna volcano is located on the western side of lower Cook Inlet in the Lake Clark National Park. Iliamna is a snow-covered stratovolcano which rises 10,020 feet above sea level. Although steam plumes occur on its eastern flanks, there has been no historic volcanic activity at Iliamna. Iliamna is located 225 km (140 miles) southwest of Anchorage and 113 km (70 miles) southwest of Homer.

CLEVELAND VOLCANO (VNUM #311240)
52°49'20" N 169°56'42" W, Summit Elevation 5676 ft (1730 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

There has been no additional activity detected at Cleveland Volcano in the last 24 hours.

It remains possible for sudden explosions of ash to occur at any time. Ash clouds exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level may develop. Such explosions and their associated ash clouds may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours. If a large, explosive, ash-producing event occurs, seismic, infrasound, or volcanic lightning may be detected by local and regional monitoring networks. There is no real-time seismic monitoring network on Mount Cleveland.

Cleveland volcano forms the western half of Chuginadak Island, a remote and uninhabited island in the east central Aleutians. It is located about 75 km (45 mi.) west of the community of Nikolski, and 1500 km (940 mi.) southwest of Anchorage. The volcano's most recent significant eruption began in February, 2001 and it produced 3 explosive events that produced ash clouds as high as 12 km (39,000 ft) above sea level. The 2001 eruption also produced a rubbly lava flow and hot avalanche that reached the sea. The most recent minor ash emissions were observed in January and June 2009.

VOLCANO INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET: http://www.avo.alaska.edu
RECORDING ON THE STATUS OF ALASKA'S VOLCANOES (907) 786-7478

CONTACT INFORMATION:

David Schneider, Acting Scientist-in-Charge, USGS
djschneider@usgs.gov (907) 786-7497

Steve McNutt, Coordinating Scientist, UAF
steve@giseis.alaska.edu (907) 474-7131

The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

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