Anchorage Daily News

After briefly shooting up to red-alert status at the beginning of the weekend, the Okmok volcano settled down and spent Sunday at the orange, or "watch," alert level.

Both Okmok and Mount Cleveland, located about 100 miles away from each other southwest of Dutch Harbor on the Aleutian Islands, are still erupting, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.

Okmok's alert status rose to red -- meaning "warning" -- Friday after two pilots reported seeing an ash plume at 40,000 feet. Satellite images confirmed a plume at 35,000 feet, prompting the higher alert level for pilots.

By Saturday afternoon, the alert was lowered to orange.

Sunday's status report for Okmok, which has been spewing gas, water, debris and sometimes ash since July 12, said the volcano's seismic activity is increasing in both amplitude and duration. Satellite images show a plume rising less than 10,000 feet, the observatory reported.

Cleveland, which went off July 21, continues to show signs of producing lava near the summit. The observatory said there are signs of a possible ash plume rising less than 20,000 feet.

The National Weather Service issued an ash-fall advisory Sunday for Umnak Island, where Okmok is located, and the southwest part of Unalaska Island. The 24-hour advisory, in place till noon today, doesn't include Dutch Harbor.

All of Alaska's other volcanoes are rated green, meaning no activity.

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