ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A remote volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands erupted violently early on Thursday, spouting an ash cloud 15,000 feet into the sky and prompting an air-traffic alert, scientists said.
The Cleveland Volcano, located on an uninhabited island 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, had been oozing lava and gas since July.
Ash from the 5,676-foot volcano is considered potentially dangerous to aircraft because Cleveland's peak lies directly below commercial flight paths between Asia and North America.
Additional explosions producing larger ash clouds are possible and could come without warning, the observatory said.
Cleveland is the only Alaska volcano blamed in an eruption-caused human death in recorded history. A U.S. soldier who was stationed on Chuginadak during World War Two disappeared during an eruption and was presumed killed.