Augustine Volcano Eruption (Alaska)

Augustine Island Volcano, located in southern Cook Inlet, about 100 km WSW of the town of Homer on the Kenai Peninsula and nearly 300 km SW from Anchorage, is erupting now after about 18 years of inactivity. The current eruption is producing ash but USGS is concerned that a large blast might occur. Augustine's symmetrical cone rises 1,254 meters above sea level. It was named by Captain James Cook in 1778 and has erupted in 1812, 1883, 1935, 1963-64, 1976, and 1986. An eruptive blast in 1883 produced a large landslide which ran out to the ocean, extending the island's north shorline as far as 2 kilometers and producing a small tsunami that swept across Cook Inlet.Augustine's 1986 eruption began with a violent explosion on March 26th. This sent ash plumes to more than 10 kilometers above the vent and triggered pyroclastic flows that sped down the volcano's flanks into the sea. A second stage began on April 23 when lava began erupting near the volcano's summit and added about 25 meters to the top of the existing lava dome. Small pyroclastic flows accompanied growth of the dome.