AILSA CHANG, HOST:
A volcano 80 miles west of Alaska's largest city is more likely than not going to explode. That's according to a recent announcement from researchers who say that Mount Spurr will likely erupt in the coming weeks or months. As Wesley Early with Alaska Public Media reports, the potential eruption has Anchorage emergency officials preparing for ashfall in their communities.
WESLEY EARLY, BYLINE: Kari Wiederkehr was at her parents' potato farm in Palmer, about 40 miles north of Anchorage, when Mount Spurr last erupted in 1992.
KARI WIEDERKEHR: And I remember that summer really clearly because my parents had to wear masks and goggles throughout harvesting because of all the volcanic ash would get stirred up.
EARLY: Now more than 30 years later, Wiederkehr is Anchorage's disaster recovery coordinator, and she's working to prepare the community for another Spurr eruption. Scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory have been monitoring Spurr for almost a year and announced last week that an eruption is likely.
MATT HANEY: It's almost like we're - we have a checklist of the usual signs that volcanoes give us before they progress to an eruption.
EARLY: Matt Haney is scientist-in-charge at the observatory and says that checklist includes small quakes near the volcano, the inflation of the surface outwards, melting of snow and an increase in gases venting from the peak.
HANEY: All four of those are giving us those indicators.
EARLY: He says the volcano has erupted twice before in recorded history, once in 1953 and again in 1992. Haney says, if the eruption happens, it would likely look similar.
HANEY: More often than not, we have explosive eruptions that fragment magma and shoot ash, you know, 50,000 feet into the atmosphere.
EARLY: They estimate an explosion could last a few hours and produce ash clouds that could travel hundreds of miles. Spurr is fairly remote, and Haney says there's little infrastructure there beyond the Alaska Volcano Observatory monitoring stations, but winds could still carry the ash to Anchorage and smaller south central Alaska communities. Wiederkehr, the local emergency official, says she's been monitoring the forecast for weeks, and sometimes the wind isn't blowing toward them.
WIEDERKEHR: But then I looked it up yesterday, and sure enough, it was straight over Anchorage. So it really depends a lot on the weather that day.
EARLY: If the ash does make its way to Anchorage, it could shut down Anchorage's main airport. In 1992, the airport was closed for 20 hours due to risks ash presented to airplane engines and exteriors. It also poses a threat to people with respiratory issues, says Anchorage chief medical officer George Conway. He says the ash has the potential to coincide with smoke from the upcoming wildfire season.
GEORGE CONWAY: They're both quite harmful if they're inhaled repeatedly or deeply, and they can contribute to both acute illness and chronic diseases.
EARLY: Conway says residents can protect themselves by staying home as much as possible and wearing an N95 mask and protective eyewear outside. For NPR News, I'm Wesley Early in Anchorage. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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