Alaska's Mount Redoubt spews ash 50,000 feet high
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's Mount Redoubt continued to erupt Saturday, sending one ash plume 50,000 feet into the air.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage said the volcano had a significant eruption at 1:20 a.m. Saturday and a less powerful eruption at 2 p.m.
The ash is expected to move north toward the Alaska Range, missing Anchorage, which is about 100 miles from the volcano.
After the first eruption, the observatory detected strong seismic activity lasting 20 minutes or more followed by an hours-long low-level tremor.
"The vent has kind of opened up and there are gasses and venting occurring. That is likely producing the tremor," said Chris Waythomas, a geologist at the observatory.
"There is likely a lot of water vapor, which turns to ice which gives the plumes this whitish appearance but there is still a lot of ash in there," he said.
Alaska Airlines, the state's largest carrier, canceled eight flights early Saturday, but since then operations had been fairly normal, spokesman Paul McElroy said.
The airline has canceled more than 150 flights affecting an estimated 10,000 passengers since the volcanic eruptions began last Sunday. Ash can cause engines to stall.
Since the series of eruptions began Sunday night, the volcano has had about a dozen bursts. The last time the volcano erupted was during a four-month period in 1989-90.
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The volcano when it erupted in 1990Mount Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska, erupted on Saturday, sending out clouds of ash thousands of feet high. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport was shut down after ash reached the airport.

Jeremy Lindseth, a spokesman for the airport, said that only small amount of ash reached the airport, but was significant enough to disrupt operations, as ash can cause engine problems for aircraft. He said that he was uncertain of how many flights were affected due to the eruption.

The eruption happened at around 1:30 PM local time, the United States Geological Survey reported. The volcano had erupted four times on Friday, billowing ash up to 51,000 feet up into the air. These are the latest in a series of eruptions from Mount Redoubt, which started on March 22. The volcano had not erupted since a four-month period in 1989-90.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory set its alert level at red, the highest possible level, meaning that an eruption is imminent, and that it would send a "significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere."