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Alaska's Cleveland Volcano Spews Ash

The Alaska Volcano Observatory has raised the alert level for that state's Cleveland Volcano.

Chris Nye works for the Alaska Volcano Observatory in Fairbanks. He says his agency detected an ash cloud drifting from the Cleveland early Thursday morning.

"Cleveland is a volcano that has been sputtering on and off for several months without exploding and producing an ash cloud," Nye says. "And so it's sort of the ash cloud that ups the ante and causes the increase from yellow to orange."

Nye says satellite images show the ash cloud is drifting Southeast at about 15,000 feet. He says it does not pose any threat to international air traffic.

The volcano's most recent significant eruption was in 2001 ... and produced three explosive events with ash clouds as high as 39,000 feet.

On the Web:

Cleveland volcano overview:

http://avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=Cleveland

Copyright 2011 Alaska Public Radio Network

Copyright 2011 Northwest News Network

Daysha Eaton reports about religion and cultural issues, including social justice, for KUER.