- Scientists monitoring Alaska’s Mount Spurr said seismic activity continues to rise, indicating that the volcano is moving toward an eruption.
- The major risk of a Mount Spurr eruption is ashfall, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
- There are no residents living in the “identified hazard areas for pyroclastic flows and lahars,” but people do often visit the region for recreation.
Alaska’s Mount Spurr is about to erupt. Be ready.
That’s the current message from the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Continued unrest at the volcano roughly 75 miles west of Anchorage within the Tordrillo Mountains is leading officials to warn residents of an impending eruption. The group wrote in an update that it is “monitoring activity at Mount Spurr for signals indicating that the volcano is moving closer to an eruption.”
Uncertainty continues at the volcano, as seismic activity “remained elevated with numerous small, shallow volcanic earthquakes detected beneath the volcano.” Still, the eruption may not come immediately—based on previous eruptions, experts said they expect to see additional ground deformation and fumarolic activity as the magma begins to move closer to the surface of the 11,000-foot-tall mountain. “If an eruption occurred,” officials wrote, “it would be preceded by additional signals allowing warning.”
Even with that caveat, the group said now is a good time for residents of South Central Alaska to familiarize themselves with the possible hazards of a Mount Spurr eruption, the biggest of which is ashfall.
Other hazards from an eruption impact only the areas immediately surrounding the volcano. The pyroclastic flow—basically a molten mix of ash, rock, and gas moving at high speeds—could mix with additional mudflows for immediate danger in the area right around the volcano.
While no residential areas sit in the immediate vicinity, some of those places are popular recreational sites. “Anyone considering a visit to the area around Spurr should be aware of these hazards, keep up to date with Spurr activity,” the group posted on X (formerly Twitter), “and obey any restrictions that might be put in place by land and emergency managers.”
The warning level for the mountain’s activity moved from a green to a yellow in October of 2024, following months of unrest and the formation of a small lake in the summit crater in the summer of 2024. Continued activity at the site prompted officials to keep a close eye on the volcano.
Mount Spurr has erupted before. In 1953, an eruption sent an explosive plume of debris roughly 30,000 feet high for about an hour. The ash rained down on Anchorage and shut down Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport for two days.
In 1992, three different eruptions happened in three separate months—June, August, and September. The June eruption created a whopping 47,500-tall burst of debris, but the August eruption caused the most disruption in nearby Anchorage, closing the three airports in the region as three millimeters of sand-like ash covered the city. Ted Stevens was closed for 20 hours, and other airports for multiple days. The ash made its way over the central part of the United States a couple of days later, disrupting air travel in the Midwest.
Volcanoes remain no joke. Let’s continue to keep an eye on this one.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
