Volcano pours ash over Pacific islands

[jokerman93]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/06/marianas.volcano.ap/index.html

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) -- Anatahan Volcano erupted Wednesday morning, shooting a thick plume of ash 50,000 feet into the air and darkening the skies over this tiny U.S. protectorate in the Pacific.

Officials have placed Anatahan Island off limits until further notice, advising aircraft to exercise caution and avoid coming within 10 nautical miles of the area.

[Rockholm]

1. Funny, considering their link with the Bugman DeLay.

[Boo Boo]

4. Maybe it's a sign of the

Bugalypse.

[BrotherBuzz]

6. You think God is a card carrying union member...

or just a simple Luddite? Either way, I made the connection, too.

[Lisa0825]

2. coincidence....

right before I clicked in here, I had been perusing micronesia links, and the Mariana Islands, just daydreaming about an exotic vacation. I will take this as a sign! (In addition to my bank statement being a sign)

[xxqqqzme]

3. I have been to Saipan.

it is a beautiful and very tiny island. I cannot imagine how this will impact that small place.

[KamaAina]

5. Anatahan is about 100 mi (160km) north of Saipan itself

nearly all the population in the Northern Marianas lives on the island of Saipan, or nearby Tinian and Rota.



Still quite a bit too close for comfort -- especially considering our agency has a satellite office on Saipan!

One hopes this does not ork up planetary weather a la Mt. Pinatubo in '92. :scared:

[Megahurtz]

7. Love the South Pacific!!!

:loveya:But it is full of volcanoes and eruptions are a pretty natural occurance, but scary!:scared: