Alaska Volcano Quiet After Outburst

Redoubt Volcano quieted down to grumbling Wednesday, after a violent outburst that sent ash and steam eight miles into the sky and caused some airlines to cancel flights as a precaution.

“Seismically, the volcano is fairly quiet right now,” geologist Robert McGimsey of the Alaska Volcano Observatory said Wednesday. “We have no reports of eruptions.”

Scientists said it was too early to predict what the low seismic activity of the mountain, 115 miles southwest of Anchorage, might mean. They said they would not be surprised if seismic pressure began rebuilding.

The volcano’s first violent eruption in days came Tuesday evening. It was the largest since the volcano thundered to life in mid-December after 25 years of inactivity.

Pilots on Tuesday reported seeing a plume of ash and steam at 40,000 feet and what appeared to be lava flowing down the volcano’s northwest flank, observatory scientists said. Geologist Tom Miller said the ash plume dropped off to nothing.