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EMO reports no ashfall, as plume moves SW
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Posted on Apr 17 2005
Ash emission from Anatahan’s rumbling volcano continues, but the Emergency Management Office said there was no report of ashfall on Saipan over the weekend.
The EMO raised no haze alert over the weekend, even though the Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center said that a plume of ash was moving southwesterly. Last Friday, EMO director Rudolfo Pua said the plume spared Saipan, which is located about 120 kms south of Anatahan.
In a separate advisory, the EMO and the U.S. Geological Survey said a thin plume of ash and steam was moving west-southwest from Anatahan. The agencies said the plume extended to about 100 nautical miles at an altitude of about 10,000 feet over the weekend.
But they maintained that clouds of volcanic smog had become widespread above the Philippine Sea, which is over 1,200 miles west of Anatahan, following the volcano’s strongest eruption last April 6.
In that eruption, the volcano spewed about 50 million cubic meters of ash. The eruption sent clouds of ash to an altitude of 50,000 feet, resulting in delays in international and domestic flights on Saipan.
The EMO continued to warn aircraft to avoid passing near Anatahan, saying that, although the volcano is not currently dangerous to most aircraft within the CNMI airspace, conditions might change rapidly. It advised aircraft to pass upwind of Anatahan or beyond 10 nautical miles downwind from the island and exercise due caution within 10 nautical miles.
The first historical eruption of Anatahan began on May 10, 2003, after hundreds of years of dormancy, shooting ash to over 30,000 feet and depositing about 10 million cubic meters of material over the island and sea. (John Ravelo)
