Earthquake activity has decreased at two western Aleutian volcanoes, reducing the potential for an eruption.
Thursday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory lowered the alert levels for remote Tanaga and Takawangha Volcanoes, about 60 miles west of Adak.
Earthquake swarms that started early this month — signaling an increased chance for eruption — have since declined significantly, said David Fee, coordinating scientist with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute.
“There’s a lower potential,” said Fee. “That doesn't mean that it couldn’t pick back up right away and erupt. Before an eruption, we would expect to see additional signals in our monitoring data — you know, particularly the seismicity. But we don’t see anything right now.”
Fee said the observatory will continue to monitor the volcanoes.
Tanaga and Takawangha are located on uninhabited Tanaga island. The last known eruption at Tanaga was in 1914.
