Researchers predict the most likely outcome of the unrest at Mt. Spurr is “one or more explosive events” that could last as long as a few hours and produce ash clouds carried for hundreds of miles.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory said signs indicated a Mount Spurr eruption was likely, though not certain, in the weeks or months ahead.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory on Wednesday said Mount Spurr is at risk of erupting within the next few weeks or months, potentially impacting residents 78 miles away in the city of Anchorage. “The increase in gas emissions confirms that new magma has intruded into the Earth’s crust beneath the volcano and indicates that an