Alaska volcano shoots lava up hundreds of meters

Alaska’s remote Pavlof Volcano was shooting lava hundreds of feet into the air, but its ash plume was thinning Saturday and no longer making it dangerous for airplanes to fly nearby.

A narrow ash plume extends a couple of hundred miles southeast from the volcano, which is 1,000 kilometers southwest of Anchorage, said Geologist Chris Waythomas of the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

The eruption that began Monday seemed to be slowing on Saturday, but Waythomas said that could change at any time.

“Things could ramp up quickly,” he said.

There are no flight restrictions because of the eruption, but pilots are being told to use caution and pay attention, Waythomas said.

Ash plumes would need to rise above 6,000 meters to threaten aviation, he said.

Seismic tremors from the 2.518-meter volcano have been going up and down, but remain at a fairly high level, Waythomas said. (AP)