Alaskan volcano sends ash plume high

Alaska's Augustine Volcano erupted again Tuesday for about five minutes, sending a plume of ash nine miles into the air.

The eruption occurred at 7:58 a.m. prompting the National Weather Service to issue an ash fall advisory for communities along the southwest portion of the Kenai Peninsula and east of the volcano, near Kamishak and Iliamna bays, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory issued a notice Tuesday, saying, "Based on seismicity, preliminary estimates indicate that this event is at least as energetic as the events of last week."

Six significant eruptions were reported last week, but officials say Tuesday's event was "a little more energetic."

The eruption of the volcano, located on an uninhabited island about 180 miles southwest of Anchorage, prompted observatory officials to raise the volcano's threat level to red, meaning an eruption was imminent.

Since the early 1800s the 4,134-foot high volcano has erupted six times -- 1812, 1833, 1935, 1964, 1965 and 1986, the newspaper said.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International