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Alaska's Pavlof Volcano Spews Ash 20,000 Feet Into Air

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a volcano on Alaska's Aleutian Islands erupted Sunday afternoon and sent ash 20,000 feet into the air.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A volcano on Alaska's Aleutian Islands erupted Sunday afternoon and sent ash 20,000 feet into the air, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Image: Pavlof Volcano eruption in Alaska on March 27, 2016
The Pavlof Volcano, which is about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, erupted at 4:18 p.m. local time on Sunday.Royce Snapp / Courtesy of Alaska Volcano Observatory

The Pavlof Volcano, which is about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, erupted at 4:18 p.m. local time. The agency says the eruption also led to tremors on the ground.

The USGS raised the volcano alert level to "Warning" and the aviation warning to "Red."

The agency says the volcano, which is about 4.4 miles in diameter, has had 40 known eruptions and "is one of the most consistently active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc."

A previous eruption in 2013 sent ash plumes rising 27,000 feet. Other eruptions have generated ash plumes as high as 49,000 feet.

The community closest to the volcano is Cold Bay, which is about 37 miles southwest of it.