Spurr Volcano
Updated: Apr 19, 2024 00:32 GMT -
stratovolcano 3374 m / 11,070 ft
Cook Inlet, SW Alaska, 61.3°N / -152.25°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Cook Inlet, SW Alaska, 61.3°N / -152.25°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Last update: 5 Apr 2024 (monitoring stations have been restored, allowing for real-time monitoring once again)
Mt Spurr volcano is the highest volcano in the Aleutian Volcanic Arc. the glacier-covered stratovolcano is located 130 km west of Anchorage and NE of Chakachamna Lake.
Mt Spurr had a violent sub-plinian eruption in 1992 and a large eruption in 1953, both ranking at VEI 4 and produced by Crater Peak, a small flank vent on the south side. No other historic eruptions have been documented.
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Spurr volcano eruptions: 1992 (Crater Peak), 1965 (?, Spurr), 1953 (Crater Peak)
tephrochronology and radiocarbon dated: 1650 ± 50 years, 3250 BC ?, 4050 BC ?, 5110 BC ± 100 years, 6050 BC
Latest nearby earthquakes
| Time | Mag. / Depth | Distance / Location | |||
| Apr 18, 12:44 am (Anchorage) | 2.0 93 km | 21 km (13 mi) to the E |  49 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska | Info | |
| Wednesday, April 10, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 10, 08:41 am (Anchorage) | 2.1 122 km | 9.4 km (5.8 mi) to the S | 63 km WNW of Tyonek, Alaska | Info | |
| Thursday, April 18, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 17, 04:25 pm (Anchorage) | 1.8 0 km | 2.4 km (1.5 mi) to the E | 63 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska | Info | |
| Monday, April 15, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 15, 11:44 am (Anchorage) | 1.8 119 km | 19 km (12 mi) to the N | 69 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska | Info | |
| Monday, April 8, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 8, 03:09 am (Anchorage) | 1.8 81 km | 17 km (10.5 mi) to the E | 52 km WNW of Beluga, Alaska | Info | |
| Friday, April 12, 2024 GMT (1 quake) | |||||
| Apr 12, 05:31 am (Anchorage) | 1.6 88 km | 21 km (13 mi) to the E | Kenai Peninsula, 65 mi west of Anchorage, Anchorage, Alaska, United States | Info | |
Background
The 3374-m-high summit of Mount Spurr, the highest volcano of the Aleutain arc, is a large lava dome constructed at the center of a roughly 5-km-wide horseshoe-shaped caldera that is open to the south.The caldera was formed by a late-Pleistocene or early Holocene debris avalanche and associated pyroclastic flows that destroyed an ancestral Spurr volcano. The debris avalanche traveled more than 25 km to the SE, and the resulting deposit contains blocks as large as 100 m in diameter. Several ice-carved post-caldera cones or lava domes lie in the center of the caldera. The youngest vent, 2309-m-high Crater Peak, formed at the breached southern end of the caldera and has been the source of about 40 identified Holocene tephra layers. Spurr's two historical eruptions, from Crater Peak in 1953 and 1992, deposited ash on the city of Anchorage.
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from: Smithsonian / GVP Mt Spurr volcano information
Eruptions of Spurr volcano
1992 eruption
A large, subplinian eruption occurred in 1992 at Mt Spurr volcano. There were 3 main explosions, on 27 June, 18 August and 16-17 September. The eruption produced ash columns up to 13.5 km high and ashfall in several hundred km distance. ...more info
A large, subplinian eruption occurred in 1992 at Mt Spurr volcano. There were 3 main explosions, on 27 June, 18 August and 16-17 September. The eruption produced ash columns up to 13.5 km high and ashfall in several hundred km distance. ...more info
1953 eruption
A VEI 4 explosive eruption occurred at Crater Peak from 9-16 July 1953. It produced major ash fall (up to 6 mm in Anchorage) and lahars on the flanks and the base of the volcano.
A VEI 4 explosive eruption occurred at Crater Peak from 9-16 July 1953. It produced major ash fall (up to 6 mm in Anchorage) and lahars on the flanks and the base of the volcano.
Latest satellite images
