Kamchatkan and Northern Kurile Volcanic Activity
INFORMATION RELEASE 63-05
Friday, November 25, 2005, 11:30 KST (23:30 UTC on November 24)


SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODES:

KAMCHATKA:
KARYMSKY : ORANGE
SHEVELUCH, BEZYMIANNY and AVACHINSKY: YELLOW
KLYUCHEVSKOY, TOLBACHIK PLOSKY, KIZIMEN, KORYAKSKY, MUTNOVSKY and GORELY: GREEN

NORTHERN KURILE:
EBEKO: YELLOW
CHIKURACHKI and ALAID: GREEN

KARYMSKY VOLCANO: 54°03'N, 159°27'E; Elevation 1,486 m.
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE.


Seismicity was above background levels on November 20-22. The growth of the lava dome in the volcanic crater continues and a possibility of ash explosions up to 6 km (or 26,300 ft.) ASL exists.

According to seismic data, many weak shallow earthquakes and possible gas-steam plumes with some amount of ash up to 2.5 km (8,200 ft.) ASL were registered on November 20-23. A thermal anomaly was noted over the volcano all week.

SHEVELUCH VOLCANO: 56°38'N, 161°19'E;
Elevation 3,283 m, the dome elevation ~2,500 m.
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW.


Growth of the lava dome, probably, continues but seismic activity did not exceed background levels all week. The possibility of ash explosions up to 6 km (19,600 ft.) ASL exists.

Weak seismic and fumarolic activities were registered this week. A thermal anomaly over the lava dome was noted all week.

AVACHINSKY: 53°15'N, 158°51'E; Elevation 2,751 m.
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE: YELLOW.


Seismic activity of the volcano remains elevated. The possibility of sudden ash explosions exists.

Many shallow and hybrid earthquakes were registered at the volcano on November 21-22. A moderate fumarolic activity was observed at the volcano on November 17-19 and 23. A weak thermal anomaly was noted on November 20-21.

BEZYMIANNY VOLCANO: 55°58'N, 160°36'E; Elevation 2,895 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW.


Activity of the lava dome continues. A number of the shallow earthquakes and a temperature of the thermal anomaly increased gradually from November 16 till present. The possibility of ash explosion has increased.

EBEKO VOLCANO, Paramushir Island, Northern Kurile: 50°41'N, 156°01'E Elevation 1,156 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW.

Ebeko volcano is not monitored with seismic instruments. KVERT uses satellite monitoring and receives occasional visual observations from Paramushir Island. Moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano continues. The danger of sudden ash explosions up to 3 km (9,840 ft.) ASL exists.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT:

Olga Girina, KVERT, IVS FED RAS
E-mail:
girina@kscnet.ru
Tel. (41522) 58627

Sergey Senyukov, KVERT, KEMSD GS RAS
E-mail:
ssl@emsd.iks.ru
Tel. (41522) 59523

Tom Murray, Scientist-in-Charge, AVO
E-mail:
tlmurray@usgs.gov
Tel. 907-786-7497


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.

The official web-page of KVERT (the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology FED RAS):
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index.html Archive of daily information KB GS RAS: ftp://emsd.iks.ru/pub/DATA/RTS/Volcanoes