Kamchatkan and Northern Kurile Volcanic
Activity
INFORMATION RELEASE 62-05
Tuesday, November 22, 2005, 13:40 KST
(01:40 UTC)
AVACHINSKY: 53o15'N, 158o51'E; Elevation 2,751 m
(9,023 ft)
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE: YELLOW
Seismic activity at Avachinsky volcano has increased
significantly during the past 24 hours. Very shallow earthquakes and several
hybrid earthquakes were registered at the volcano from 08:00 till 24:00 UTC on
November 21. A weak thermal anomaly near the volcano's summit was noted in
satellite imagery on November 20-21. Based on these changes, the possibility of
sudden ash explosions has increased.
Now the volcano obscured by clouds but according to pilots
reports - no changes were noted at the volcanic crater for last several
hours.
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.
KVERT will continue to monitor Avachinsky very closely and
will issue further updates as the status of the volcano changes.
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.