ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT
U.S. Geological Survey
Thursday, August 4, 2011, 12:28 PM AKDT (Thursday, August 4, 2011, 20:28 UTC)

CLEVELAND VOLCANO (VNUM #311240)
52°49'20" N 169°56'42" W, Summit Elevation 5676 ft (1730 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

The summit of Cleveland Volcano has been obscured by clouds over the past 24 hours and AVO has received no new information about the level of unrest at the volcano. The presence of a lava dome in the summit crater increases the possibility of an explosive eruption, but does not necessarily mean that one will occur over the coming days to weeks. Short-duration explosions, if they occur, could produce ash clouds that may exceed 20,000 ft above sea level; these events can occur rapidly without warning and may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours.

Without a real-time seismic network on the volcano, AVO is unable to track local earthquake activity related to volcanic unrest, provide forecasts of eruptive activity, or confirmation of explosive, ash-producing events. AVO is monitoring the volcano using satellite data as it becomes available.



CONTACT INFORMATION:

John Power, Scientist-in-Charge, USGS
jpower@usgs.gov (907) 786-7497

Steve McNutt, Coordinating Scientist, UAF
steve@giseis.alaska.edu (907) 474-7131

The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

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