Alaskas Mount Spurr hit with 22 earthquakes in recent weeks preventing researchers from pulling vital data from volcano

Scientists at Mount Spurr in Alaska have been unable to collect vital volcanic data for over a month as the area experiences “elevated” levels of earthquakes — but authorities claim an eruption is less likely than previously projected.The 11,000-foot-tall active volcano Mount Spurr, about 80 miles west of Anchorage, has experienced 22 earthquakes since April 10, leaving scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory unable to harvest accurate data on volcanic gas levels due to weather conditions, according to the agency.“Based on the recent modest changes in monitoring data and the inability to measure gas for the last month, the outcome of the current unrest is less certain,” AVO wrote in a release.“When weather conditions become more favorable, collection of new gas data will help us improve this assessment,” it added.Cloudy weather has rendered AVO planes, helicopters and satellites useless for data collection since March 21, the agency said.

Since those last readings, ground deformation has slowed and earthquake activity — though still considered elevated — has declined, AVO said in the release.Ground deformation occurs near volcanoes when magma levels are elevated and the fiery muck is moving underneath the Earth’s surface.Before the weather problems, AVO detected significantly elevated levels of volcanic gas emissions in the area surrounding Mount Spurr, which was a major contributor to the initial explosive forecast.An increase in volcanic emissions is a result of magma intruding into the Earth’s crust beneath the summit of the volcano.Levels in March were so high that AVO called an eruption at Mount Spurr “likely, but not certain.”Despite that, AVO claimed the chance of a volcanic eruption is lower than initially forecasted last month.“Overall, the likelihood of an eruption has decreased from March, but the volcano remains at an elevated level of unrest and an explosive eruption (or eruptions) like those that occurred in 1953 and ...