(July 13, 2008)--An erupting volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands has spewed ash at least 50,000 feet into the air, a geophysicist says.
The Coast Guard says people on Umnak Island in the western Aleutians report rock and ash falling around them.
Ten people in danger were rescued.
The Okmok Caldera erupted Saturday morning.
Seismologists at the Alaska Volcano Center detected a series of small tremors hours before the eruption.
Okmok is on one of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, 60 miles west of the busy fishing port of Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island.
Jerry Lucas, a spokesman for PenAir, the primary airliner serving the area, says two planned flights from Unalaska were canceled because of the eruption.
Geophysicist Steve McNutt says the 3,500-foot volcano last erupted in 1997.
He said the volcano has shown signs of increased activity during the last few months.
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