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Link to Anatahan partially restored
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Posted on Jul 10 2005
The Emergency Management Office said yesterday telemetry of seismic signals from Anatahan has been partly restored, reporting that tremor and ash emissions from the volcano remain at high levels.
Yesterday morning, ash plume rose to 20,000 feet and extended about 60 nautical miles southwest of Anatahan, based on satellite monitoring by the Air Force Weather Agency.
“A thin layer of ash and volcanic smog now covers much of the Philippine Sea out to the eastern Philippine islands and the east coast of Taiwan,” the EMO and the U.S. Geological Survey said in a joint report.
Volcanic tremor levels remained high, the agencies said. They said a single long-period earthquake was recorded about 8:49am, which could possibly indicate an explosion.
The EMO and the USGS recently lost their link to all seismic stations on Anatahan due to heavy ash fall. Yesterday, they said the signal was restored from one of the seismic stations on Anatahan and another one on Sarigan.
“Repairs to the remaining stations will be attempted as soon as the eruptive vigor drops sufficiently and wind directions are favorable,” the agencies said.
The agencies said the volcano remains in a state of continuous eruption. They advised aircraft to pass upwind of the island or beyond 10 nautical miles downwind, pointing out that conditions could change rapidly, and volcanic activity could just suddenly escalate.
Recently, strong eruptions sent ash clouds to 40,000 feet. On June 19, a 2.6-minute eruptive pulse sent ash to 50,000 feet, matching the intensity of Anatahan’s strongest historical eruption last April 6, which also sent ash to 50,000 feet. (John Ravelo)
