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Anatahan’s haze reaches Palau
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Posted on Jun 02 2005
Ash plume and volcanic smog from Anatahan have reached Palau and is hampering visibility, which went down to only five nautical miles yesterday.
The volcano has been spewing thick plumes of ash and steam that rose to an altitude of up to 14,000 feet, according to a joint report by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Emergency Management Office.
The agencies said the plume extended about 350 nautical miles to the west, with thin ash and volcanic smog extending beyond that out to 575 nautical miles north and west of the island.
“The area of volcanic smog from 10,000 to 14,000 feet that extends nearly to the Philippine appears smaller than yesterday. There are no reports of haze from the Philippines today but Palau continues to report visibilities of only 5 nautical miles,” the agencies said.
They said ash emissions became denser yesterday, while seismicity on Anatahan continued to fluctuate.
Although tremor levels declined yesterday, the EMO cautioned aircraft that conditions could change rapidly. It advised aircraft to pass upwind of Anatahan or beyond 10 nautical miles downwind from the island, reminding them to exercise due caution within 10 nautical miles.
Last April 6, the volcano suddenly unleashed its fury and recorded its strongest historical eruption, coughing out ash to some 50,000 feet into the air. The USGS said the volcano expelled about 50 million cubic meters of ash in that eruption.
