Scientists are on high alert for an impending volcanic eruption that could spark international travel chaos. Mount Spurr in Alaska is an 11,000-foot-tall volcano roughly 80 miles from the state’s most densely populated city, Anchorage. An update from the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) on Tuesday morning said “frequent small volcanic earthquakes” had been detected the previous day. 

It added: “Most of the earthquakes that are occurring under the volcano are too small to be located. Nothing unusual was observed in cloudy to partly cloudy webcam and satellite views. Based on previous eruptions, changes from current activity in the earthquakes, ground deformation, summit lake conditions, and fumarolic activity would be expected if magma began to move closer to the surface.”

Matt Haney, scientist-in-charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), told MailOnline that an eruption “would be explosive” and probably look similar to its previous eruption in 1992. 

The 1992 incident involved three explosions between July and September, and shut down Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport for 20 hours due to ash clouds. 

Skies became dark in the middle of the day and the ash settled an eight of an inch thick across the city. The damages were estimated at £1.5 million, according to the Municipality of Anchorage.

If a future eruption sent a massive ash cloud 50,000 feet into the air, it would force ANC, the fourth-busiest cargo airport in the world, to shut, as well as potentially Fairbanks International Airport (FAI).

This could have a knock-on effect across the US, causing widespread flight delays and cancellations, and disrupting the global supply chain.

Mr Haney and his colleagues have been monitoring Mount Spurr since it began showing heightened levels of activity in April 2024.

They have tracked shallow earthquakes, ground deformation, and gas and steam emissions – all of which are signs of an impending eruption. 

He added that the next sign of an eruption would be a volcanic tremor, which in 1992 began about three weeks before the first explosion.