Located earthquakes near Mount Spurr, Alaska, April through October 8, 2024. Earthquake locations are colored by depth, with shallow earthquakes appearing red and deeper earthquakes are blue. Larger dots indicate higher magnitude earthquakes; the largest earthquake on this figure is a M2.3. Triangles indicate the locations of AVO's monitoring sites, colored by equipment at the specific site. Black triangle denote a location of a seismometer, and yellow triangles mark sites with co-located seismometers and GNSS. GNSS stands for Global Navigation Satellite System receiving sites that use signals from the Global Positioning System and other satellite constellations to precisely measure the position on the Earth in three dimensions (north-south, east-west, and vertical).
Volcano(es): Spurr
Photographer: Schneider, David
URL: avo.alaska.edu/image/view/196118
Spurr unrest 2024
On October 16, 2024, AVO raised the color code and alert level to YELLOW/ADVISORY, stating: "AVO has observed a gradual increase in volcanic unrest over a period of several months at Mount Spurr, located about 120 km (75 miles) west of Anchorage (https://avo.alaska.edu/image/view/196123). GNSS receivers have detected sustained upward and outward ground deformation since March 2024. An increase in seismic activity has also been noted since April (https://avo.alaska.edu/image/view/196122). Other indications of elevated activity include the development of a small lake in the summit crater in early summer of 2024.
"The largest magnitude earthquake detected in this current period of unrest is a M2.3 earthquake on October 6th. This increase in activity was described in detail in an Information Statement (https://avo.alaska.edu/news/hans/DOI-USGS-AVO-2024-10-09T19:43:26+00:00) that AVO released on October 9th. Analysis of seismic data indicates a subtle increase in the rate and size of earthquakes over the past few weeks. Because this is a notable departure from the normal background seismicity of the volcano, AVO is raising the Aviation Color Code to YELLOW and the Volcano Alert Level to ADVISORY. However, there are no indications that an eruption is imminent. Often this type of seismicity and ground deformation will decline without producing an eruption.
"AVO continues to closely monitor activity at Mount Spurr for signals that would indicate that the volcano is moving closer to an eruption. Based on previous eruptions, changes from current activity in the earthquakes, ground deformation, summit lake, and fumaroles would be expected if magma began to move closer to the surface. Therefore, it is very likely that if an eruption were to occur it would be preceded by additional signals that would allow advance warning. "
Over the following two weeks, there more than 180 small earthquakes at Mount Spurr. Over the week of November 1st, there were also a few episodes of possible volcanic tremor, which might indicate deep fluid movement. No unusual activity or surface changes were observed in satellite data or webcam views. AVO staff visited on October 24th to conduct pre-winter maintenance on Spurr’s monitoring network and noted that the fumaroles (steam/gas vents) in Spurr summit’s crater were steaming.
Use Restriction: Please cite the photographer and the Alaska Volcano Observatory / U.S. Geological Survey when using this image.
Full Resolution.