Kamchatkan and Northern Kurile Volcanic
Activity
INFORMATION RELEASE 59-05
Tuesday, November 08, 2005, 14:00 KST
(02:00 UTC)
AVACHINSKY: 53o15'N, 158o51'E; Elevation 2,751 m
(9,023 ft)
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE: YELLOW
PREVIOUS LEVEL OF
CONCERN COLOR CODE: GREEN
The number and energy of shallow earthquakes below Avachinsky
volcano has increased
gradually over the last month. A weak thermal anomaly
near the summit was noted in
satellite imagery on November 07. Based on these
changes, the possibility of sudden ash
explosions has increased.
The last strong explosive-effusive eruption of Avachinsky
volcano was in January 1991.
As result of this eruption, lava filled the
entire summit crater of the volcano.
In October 2001, a gas and steam explosion from the summit
crater sent a small amount
of ash up to 3.7 km (or 12,200 ft.) ASL. As result
of this activity, a fracture extended
E-SE and W-NW across the summit lava
plug and continued 100-150 m down the flanks of the
volcanic cone. Strong
gas-emissions continue to occur from the fumaroles along the
margins of this
fracture.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE
CONTACT:
The Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) is a
non-commercial cooperative
program of the Alaska
Volcano Observatory (AVO,
USA), the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (IVS) FED
RAS and the
Kamchatkan Branch
of Geophysical Service(KB GS) RAS (Russia). KVERT staff is
available in the office from
8:30 AM till 6:00 PM (KST
or KDT) and by
phone during the evenings. KVERT uses daily satellite imagery,
information
from remote scientific
observation stations, real-time seismic data for 10
volcanoes, and other information to
monitor activity at
Kamchatkan and
Northern Kurile Volcanoes.