By Haidee V. Eugenio
SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 7) – Anatahan volcano in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands started erupting again on Tuesday and the Emergency Management Office warned airlines not to pass directly above the volcano for safety reasons.
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, the ash plume was 15,000 feet high, compared with 500 feet recorded on Jan. 4.
EMO director Rudolfo M. Pua, in an interview with Variety yesterday, said that the ash plume extends about 200 miles west-southwest of Anatahan, or in the direction of the Philippines.
This was based on information from the Washington-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.
Pua said all concerned agencies like commercial airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration have already been warned about Anatahan’s ongoing eruption.
This is the third historical eruption of Anatahan since the sudden eruption in May 2003.
Unlike the first two eruptions, however, EMO and...