Alaska volcano erupts with new strength but unrelated to quake

Aerial view of the eruption at Mount Veniaminof’s intracaldera cone on the Alaska Peninsula, in this photo taken August 18, 2013.   (HANDOUT/Reuters)

SOURCE – An Alaska volcano that has been intermittently oozing lava and releasing small bursts of ash and steam since June erupted with new ferocity on Friday, sending clouds of ash more than 4.8 km into the sky, scientists said.

The latest eruptions from the 2,507-metre Veniaminof Volcano, on the Alaska Peninsula nearly 805 km southwest of Anchorage, marked some of the strongest unrest detected at the site this summer and may intensify, the Alaska Volcano Observatory warned.

But the eruptions were not believed to be linked to a large, 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Friday in waters off the remote Alaska island of Adak, nearly 1,300 km southwest of Veniaminof in the Aleutians chain, said John Power, the observatory’s scientist in charge.