Cleveland Volcano Eruptions In Alaska May Disrupt Air Travel

The Cleveland Volcano in Alaska has sent up an ash cloud that may interrupt air travel. The Cleveland Volcano erupted three times in a row on Saturday, sending up an ash cloud.  Some are worried that the eruptions could cause intercontinental flights to be delayed or grounded.

In 2010, an Icelandic volcano severely disrupted air travel throughout Europe and the world. Passengers were stranded for days after a huge ash plume grounded flights. Some are worried that this could happen again with Alaska's Cleveland volcano. The Cleveland Volcano sits beneath the flight corridor for intercontinental planes passing between North America and Asia.  It's in Alaska's Aleutian island chain of volcanoes, all of which sit beneath the flight path for intercontinental jets.  Thus, Cleveland could, like Eyjafjallajökull, disrupt air travel and leave passengers stranded.

For the moment, however, scientists say that the ash cloud is only about 15,000 feet, which shouldn't be a problem. Commercial jets fly at around 35,000 feet. No planes have been grounded yet, but as a precaution, some are being rerouted further North to avoid the ash cloud from the Cleveland Volcano.

For the last few years, since about 2011, the Cleveland Volcano has had increased activity. In the case of the Cleveland Volcano, brief eruptions are customarily followed by a relatively calm or dormant period. But the three quick explosions that occurred this weekend are not typical, so scientists aren't sure what will happen next.

Rick Wessels, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey's Alaska Volcano Observatory, told Reuters, "We haven't seen a phase like this where we've had multiple explosions."

He added that because there is no seismic equipment on the Cleveland's peak, which reaches 5,676-feet, scientist must monitor with seismic equipment that is about 50 miles away and by satellite. Cleveland is located on the uninhabited Chuginadak Island in the Aleutian Island chain. The nearest human settlement, on an island about 45 miles away, is Nikolski, population 18.