A dormant Alaskan volcano that has not erupted in 800 years appears to be showing signs of waking up.
Alaskan authorities have detected activity under a once-dormant volcano that stands at an elevation of 3,201 feet, in Mount Edgecumbe near Sitka.
While it is believed that dormant volcanoes like the one in Mount Edgecumb – which has been inactive for nearly eight centuries – will never erupt, scientists say that might change.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory, in collaboration with the Alaska Satellite Facility, carried out research using mathematical modeling and satellite imagery to learn that the recent surge in seismic activity was a result of the upward movement of magma from the Earth’s depths.
The last time the volcano erupted was 800 years ago, and geolotgical evidence evidence suggested volcanic activity occurred some 4,500 years ago.
Earthquakes persist around Mount Edgecumbe this year, and are attributed to the volcanic eruption. This is because lava can move in two ways: it can either push its way along the cracks or turn into a pool of melt.
Hannah Dietterich, a research geophysicist at the US Geological Survey at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, said:”There are signs that there is magma that’s come into the system very deep. We’re talking six miles below the volcano. And so we want to be sure to be monitoring it as best we can.”
The United States have more active volcanoes and volcanic fields than any other country in the world, with Alaska having the most, according to the Smithsonian Institution.
The Last Frontier State has more than 130 active volcanoes within the last two million years, though only 50 of them have been active since 1760.