Volcano's Ash Falls On Anchorage -- Mount Spurr Eruption Closes Area Airports

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Street sweepers were to start cleaning major thoroughfares today after Mount Spurr erupted last night, spewing a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch of volcanic ash over Alaska's largest city. The eruption shut down airports, darkened the sky and prompted health warnings for people with breathing problems.

The eruption of Mount Spurr, about 80 miles west of Anchorage across Cook Inlet, spewed ash for about four hours and caught geologists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory by surprise.

An eruption "two months ago wiped out a seismometer we had right on the lip of the vent. So this one caught us by surprise," said Inyo Ellersieck. Four or five other devices in the same area today showed Mount Spurr "was relatively quiet with a low level of earthquake activity under the mountain," he said.

The volcano can be seen from Anchorage on a clear day but yesterday and last night was shrouded by clouds. Mount Spurr normally emits a steam plume.

Falling ash also was reported in Valdez, Cordova and Whittier last night and was expected to reach Yakatat early today.

The Federal Aviation Administration barred all planes from coming within 25 miles of Mount Spurr. Volcanic grit can disable airplane engines.

Anchorage International Airport and numerous small airports were shut down by the ash fall.

At the airport, maintenance crews for a time last night tried to sweep and hose the ash off the runways and taxiways. "But the winds came up, blew it right back and they had to give that up," said a spokesman for the airport security office. The closure stranded hundreds of tourists.

Bob Stewart, director of the Anchorage Office of Emergency Management, said state Department of Transportation street sweepers and wash trucks were scheduled to clean major thoroughfares in Anchorage today.

The ashfall came when much of Alaska is bathed in almost 24-hours of daylight each day. The ash turned day into night. Anchorage residents reported that street lights came on as a result of the darkening. The major eruption occurred at 5:41 p.m. PDT.

"We thought it was winter for a minute," said Tom Schuler, a dispatcher with the Alaska Cab Co. in Anchorage.

Police cut their responses to only emergencies and warned drivers to stay off the roads because of reduced visibility and the chances of losing control on the slick coat of volcanic ash.

Stewart said he washed off the windshield of an employee's car early today, splashing it with a bucket of water. The ash is heavier than expected and becomes very slippery when wet, he said.

The National Weather Service issued a flash-flood watch for streams in the area because of melting snow from the mountain.

The 11,100-foot volcano stopped producing ash after about four hours. As the fallout approached Anchorage, hospital officials advised any of the city's 230,000 residents who suffer from respiratory problems to stay inside.

Streets emptied quickly as the ash fell like gray snow on sidewalks. Those who remained outside held handkerchiefs to their mouths, covered their heads and tried to screen their eyes from the ash.

"It's dead quiet in here. Everybody's been told to stay in and they're following orders," said Pat Canfield, in charge of the emergency room at Humana Hospital of Alaska.

Schuler said many of the cab company's taxis were taken off the street. "Just the hard-core drivers are out there now, the ones who don't care about engine damage," he said.

The volcano had been dormant for 39 years until a June 27 eruption threw ash on interior Alaska communities to the north but missed Anchorage. Yesterday's single eruption, classified as moderate in magnitude, occurred from the same vent at 7,575-foot Crater Peak as the June eruption, said John Paskievitch of the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Mount Redoubt, south of Spurr in Lake Clark National Park, was the last volcano to dump ash on Anchorage. It did so during a series of eruptions in 1989 and 1990.

The ash-filled air from those eruptions shut down all four engines of a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 747, causing the plane to plunge from 25,000 feet to 12,000 feet in 12 minutes before the crew could restart the engines.