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Anatahan eruption continues
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Posted on May 31 2004
Anatahan’s volcano continues to throw up lava some hundreds of meters into the air while emitting steam and ash, even as the Emergency Management and Office and the U.S. Geological Survey reported that a 4.9-intensity earthquake centered at about 25 miles south of Anatahan shook the island last week.
The agencies maintained that the eruption could intensify anytime with little or no warning, reiterating precautionary advisory to aircraft flying over the CNMI.
“Although the volcano is not currently dangerous to most aircraft within the CNMI airspace, conditions may change rapidly. Aircraft should pass upwind of Anatahan or farther than 30 km downwind from the island and exercise due caution within 30-50 km of Anatahan,” the EMO said.
Anatahan remains off-limits to the public amid a standing emergency declaration by Gov. Juan N. Babauta, who restricted all travels to the island except for scientific expedition. According to the EMO, the off-limits zone extends to 10 nautical miles around Anatahan.
The governor placed Anatahan under such declaration just days after the volcano’s big eruption on May 10 last year. The volcanic activity eventually slowed down, but regained intensity since late March this year.
According to a joint report by EMO and the USGS, satellite images obtained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicated ash plume spreading to about 5-km northwest of Anatahan sometime last week.
The agencies also reported about the strong quake during early morning last Tuesday, but said the event was not related to the volcanic activity. They said the quake was of tectonic origin, the epicenter of which was located about 57 miles deep and 25 miles south of Anatahan.
The Marianas is situated within the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, where tectonic plates meet with the Asian plate. Tectonic earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy within the rocks along a fault. The same thing happens during a volcanic earthquake, but the event is initially caused by the upward movement of magma under the volcano, which strains rock masses.
