Volcano Near State’s Most Populated City Likely To Erupt Soon, Scientists Warn

Scientists warned that Mount Spurr, an active volcano near Anchorage, Alaska, is likely to erupt in weeks or months.

The volcano is approximately 75 miles from Anchorage, the state’s most populated city, and can be seen from the city on a clear day.

According to CBS News, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said it measured “significantly elevated volcanic gas emissions” in recent overflights.

The signs indicated an eruption is ‘likely’ but not certain.

“We expect to see further increases in seismic activity, gas emissions and surface heating prior to an eruption, if one were to occur,” the observatory stated, according to CBS News.

“Such stronger unrest may provide days to weeks of additional warning,” it added.

Report: Alaska’s Mount Spurr, a volcano about 80 miles away from the state’s largest city, will very likely erupt in the coming weeks or months for the first time in over 30 years

Via: ABC News pic.twitter.com/WaGkTS1t3B

— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) March 13, 2025

Per CBS News:

However, the observatory warned that it was possible that an eruption could happen with little or no warning.

“While we expect additional changes to monitoring data prior to an eruption, it is also possible that an eruption could occur with little or no additional warning,” the observatory wrote. “This would be extremely hazardous for recreators on Mount Spurr or near its drainages as well as those overflying the volcano.”

Mount Spurr is one of 53 volcanoes in Alaska that have been active within the last 250 years. It has two main vents and is 11,070 feet (3,374 meters) tall. It is covered in ice and snow and is located roughly 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage.

The last known eruption from the summit vent was more than 5,000 years ago. The Crater Peak vent, meanwhile, erupted once in 1953 and three times in 1992, according to the observatory. The Crater Peak vent is about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of the summit.

Volcano in Alaska will ‘likely’ erupt in the coming weeks or months: scientists https://t.co/ZSXv5ZsY7k pic.twitter.com/0XZJQGcG4G

— New York Post (@nypost) March 12, 2025

“Volcanologists are closely monitoring Mount Spurr in Alaska as a series of small, shallow volcanic earthquakes continue beneath the volcano, indicating ongoing activity. Overflight video from Feb 7, 2025, shows small lake nestled in snowy crater,” the U.S. Department of the Interior said last month.

Volcanologists are closely monitoring Mount Spurr in Alaska as a series of small, shallow volcanic earthquakes continue beneath the volcano, indicating ongoing activity. Overflight video from Feb 7, 2025, shows small lake nestled in snowy crater.

Courtesy of @alaska_avo / @USGS pic.twitter.com/WWnnFd2KLn

— US Department of the Interior (@Interior) February 20, 2025

Anchorage Daily News reports:

During flights over the volcano on March 7 and 11, scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory “measured significantly elevated volcanic gas emissions” and saw what were described as newly reactivated gas vents on the mountain. “Elevated earthquake activity and ground deformation continue,” the volcano observatory said in a bulletin.

All are signs the volcano is progressing toward eruption, said Matt Haney, scientist-in-charge at the volcano observatory, jointly run by the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute and the state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

“I kind of think of it as a checklist of precursory signs that we look for with volcanoes,” Haney said. “And now we’re checking all of them.”

The most likely scenario, the scientists say, is an eruption of Mount Spurr similar to previous eruptions in 1953 and 1992, each lasting hours and releasing clouds of ash that circulated for hundreds of miles and disrupted life in the region.