Mt. Fitzherbert

Views taken on 2005-Apr-19—21

Potential ash hazards: Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that any ash clouds that rise above the crater rim today would drift westward early and north to north-northwestward later.

Recent observations: Overall the volcano is relatively quiet. Seismicity remains in the pattern of the past week, with small (~M1) earthquakes occurring about every three minutes or so. GPS receivers in the crater continue their slow rates of displacement, which suggests that the dome continues to extrude, albeit slowly. Rockfalls from the dome continue, and extrusion of lava on its north end is readily apparent. Crews yesterday deployed and surveyed several targets on dome, temporarily removed the GPS station on the dome, and collected ash and water samples. A new fact sheet summarizing highlights of activity from September 2004 through March 2005 is now available online at the USGS website.