Source: Reuters

World | Mon Mar 28, 2016 11:35am EDT

Alaska volcano erupts with massive ash cloud, diverting flights

BY DAN WHITCOMB

A volcano on the Alaska Peninsula erupted with little advanced warning over the weekend, spewing an ash cloud up to 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) high that prompted aviation warnings across the region, scientists said on Monday.

Mount Pavlof, one of the most active volcanoes on the peninsula, began erupting shortly after 4:00 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time on Sunday, said Jessica Larsen, coordinating scientist with the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute.

"Pavlof is known to us for having a pretty quick onset to eruptions, it doesn't always give us long precursory signals," Larsen said.

"If you look at some of the seismic data that we have, the intensity really ramped up pretty fast. It was quite abrupt," she said.

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