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Volcano’s eruptions continue

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Associated Press

Alaska’s Mt. Redoubt continued to erupt Saturday, sending one ash plume 50,000 feet into the air.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage said Redoubt had a significant eruption at 1:20 a.m. Saturday and two less powerful ones in the afternoon. Ash was reported in Nikiski, a community across Cook Inlet about 50 miles from the volcano.

After the first eruption, the observatory detected strong seismic activity lasting 20 minutes or more followed by an hours-long low-level tremor.

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“There are gases and venting occurring. That is likely producing the tremor,” said Chris Waythomas, a geologist at the observatory.

“There is likely a lot of water vapor, which turns to ice, which gives the plumes this whitish appearance -- but there is still a lot of ash in there,” he said.

Alaska Airlines canceled eight flights early Saturday, but since then operations have been fairly normal, spokesman Paul McElroy said.

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The volcano has had about a dozen eruptions in all.

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