The eruption in June 1912 is considered the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. Photo on right shows a resident of the devastated village of Kodiak, 100 miles southeast of Novarupta, standing in deep drifts of ash shortly after the June 1912 eruption … Ash from Novarupta volcanic eruption sweeps over Kodiak Island (AGAIN) October 31, 2012 Strong winds swept ash from the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century into the atmosphere Tuesday, creating a haze over Alaska's Kodiak Island and prompting the National Weather Service to issue flight warnings for the area. Ash … Resuspension and transport of fine-grained volcanic ash from the Katmai National Park and Preserve region of Alaska have been observed and documented over the past several decades, but has likely been occurring ever since the 1912 Novarupta-Katmai eruption. Novarupta is a volcano 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Kodiak Island that erupted from June 6 to June 8, 1912: the largest eruption in the 20th century. During the eruption, Mount Katmai, 6 miles away, partially collapsed. For three days, Novarupta spewed lava and ash. More than 60 hours, the volcano eruption took place 28 km³ of ash flows and tephra representing 13 km³ of magma volume. This eruption buried the island of Kodiak in two and a half feet of ash. The massive eruption happened at a vent about 10 km to the west of Mount Katmai. Century-old ash and dust from the massive Novarupta eruption of 1912 was once again drifting over Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska on Thursday, prompting flight cancellations. For 60 hours, a vent later named Novarupta spewed 4 mi 3 (17 km 3) of ash that fell from the sky and 2.6 mi 3 (11 km 3) of pyroclastic flows and surges that buried valleys, rivers, and glaciers under as much as 700 feet of ash. Ash and dust were not expected to accumulate on Kodiak Island, Sego said.

Description: Fierstein and Hildreth (2001) provide information about the magitude of the 1912 eruption at Novarupta and Katmai: "The world's largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century broke out at Novarupta [see fig. On 13 November AVO reported that a cloud of ash, resuspended by strong winds in the vicinity of Katmai and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, was blown about 120 km SE over Shelikof Strait and Kodiak Island at an altitude of up to 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. Novarupta released over six cubic miles of ash, covering over 40 square miles of a nearby mountain valley to depths of up to 700 feet, and was ten times more powerful than the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption in Washington.

The ash was originally deposited during the Novarupta eruption in 1912. Novarupta-Katmai Ash Resuspension. Life on Kodiak Island was immobilized during the 60-hour eruption. The mountain is located in Kodiak Island Borough, adjacent to its border with Lake and Peninsula Borough. 1912 Novarupta eruption. On June 6th, 1912, Mount Katmai/Novarupta erupted on the Alaska mainland. the ash cloud that swept to the south plunged the island of Kodiak into three days of darkness.