Kamchatkan and Northern Kurile Volcanic
Activity
INFORMATION RELEASE 20-06
Tuesday, May 09, 2006, 19:35 KDT (06:35
UTC)
BEZYMIANNY VOLCANO: 55o58'N, 160o36'E; Elevation 2,895
m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE: RED
PREVIOUS LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE: ORANGE
An explosive eruption is possible in the next one or two days.
KVERT would expect this event to produce ash plumes as high as 8-10 km
(26,000-33,000 ft) ASL.
Seismic activity has increased. Intermittent spasmodic
volcanic tremor has been occurring from 04:04 UTC on May 09. The number of hot
avalanches from the lava dome is also significantly increased. A fumarolic plume
at times containing small amounts of ash is visible. The height of gas-steam
plume is > 7 km (23,000 ft) ASL now. A strong thermal anomaly at the dome was
noted in satellite imagery on May 09.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE
CONTACT:
Tatiana Kozhevnikova, KVERT, KB GS RAS
E-mail:
ssl@emsd.iks.ruTel.
(41522) 59523
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.