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Shishaldin Volcano's Eruption Causes Flight Delays in Alaska - Reports

Shishaldin Volcano, the highest peak in the Aleutian Islands chain, is located on Unimak Island about 1,094 kilometres (680 miles) southwest of Anchorage, the state's biggest city.
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The volcano exploded on Tuesday morning and afternoon emitting a cloud of ash around 8 kilometres (5 miles) in the air, which led to several flight delays and cancellations, with volcano particles pouring onto at least one neighbouring community, Reuters reported citing local officials.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory has given a “Code Red” warning for air traffic in the area nearby Shishaldin.

“It wasn’t kind of a one-off”, observatory geologist Kristi Wallace said. “It’s more of sustained activity, which means there’s more volume of material coming out of the volcano.”

She added that the volcano's ash cloud could hinder commercial air traffic in the region.

The observatory has said that the event marked the biggest volcano eruption in about six months of activity in the region.

According to the regional airline Ravn Alaska, flights to the fishing port of Unalaska-Dutch Harbor were temporarily cancelled.

Over three-quarters of all US volcanoes, which have erupted for the past 200 years, are situated in the state of Alaska, the Alaska Volcano Observatory website data says.

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