Kamchatkan and Northern Kurile Volcanic
Activity
INFORMATION RELEASE 55-06
Friday, December 08, 2006, 10:30 KST
(22:30 UTC on December 07)
SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR
CODES:
KAMCHATKA:
KARYMSKY and SHEVELUCH: ORANGE
BEZYMIANNY: YELLOW
KLYUCHEVSKOY, TOLBACHIK
PLOSKY, KIZIMEN, AVACHINSKY, KORYAKSKY, MUTNOVSKY and GORELY: GREEN
NORTHERN
KURILE:
EBEKO, CHIKURACHKI and ALAID: GREEN
KARYMSKY
VOLCANO: 54œ03'N, 159œ27'E; Elevation 1,486 m.
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR
CODE IS ORANGE
A moderate
explosive eruption of the volcano continues. Ash explosions up to 6 km (or
19,700 ft.) ASL are possible. The activity of the volcano could affect
low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the volcano.
There was no seismic
data during the past week due to technical reasons. According to visual
information from pilots of international airlines (AMC, Elizovo), ash plume rose
up to 6.9 km (22,600 ft) ASL and extended to the east from the volcano at 02:00
UTC on December 02. According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly over the
dome was noted on December 03 and 06-07. Ash plumes extending mainly to the east
from the volcano were observed on December 05-06. Clouds obscured the volcano in
the other days.
SHEVELUCH VOLCANO: 56œ38'N, 161œ19'E; Elevation
3,283 m, the dome elevation ~2,500 m.
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS
ORANGE
Activity of the lava
dome increased. Ash explosions up to 6 km (19,700 ft.) ASL could occur at any
time. The activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft in the
vicinity of the volcano. Growth of the lava dome continues.
Seismic
activity was above background levels on December 04. Strong seismic events from
19:06 till 19:40 UTC and volcanic tremor were registered at the volcano,
indicating ash explosions at the lava dome and a series of avalanches. According
to satellite data, ash plumes rose up to 6 km (19,700 ft.) ASL and extended to
the north-west. The run-out of ash deposits was about 150 km (94 mi).
At
21:00 UTC on December 04, a single ash plume rose up to 4.0 km (13,100 ft) ASL
and extended to the north-west. From 21:30 till 24:00 UTC this day, gas-steam
plumes containing ash extended to the north-west at a height of 3.0 km (9,840
ft) ASL from the volcano.
Seismicity was at background levels in the
other days. According to visual and video data, a fumarolic activity of the
volcano was observed on December 02-04 and 06-07. According to satellite data, a
thermal anomaly over the dome was noted on December 04-05. Clouds obscured the
volcano in the other days.
BEZYMIANNY VOLCANO: 55œ58'N, 160œ36'E;
Elevation 2,895 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW
Growth of the lava dome
continues. The activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft in the
vicinity of the volcano.
Seismic activity was above background levels on
November 30 and December 02 and 04, and at background levels in the other days.
Several shallow earthquakes were registered during the week. According to visual
and video data, a fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed all the week.
Gas-steam plume rose up to 4.5 km (14,800 ft) ASL on December 06. According to
satellite data, a thermal anomaly over the dome was noting during the
week.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE
CONTACT:
Olga Girina, KVERT, IVS FED RAS
E-mail:
girina@kscnet.ruTel.
(41522) 58627
Sergey Senyukov, KVERT, KB GS RAS
E-mail:
ssl@emsd.iks.ruTel.
(41522) 59523
Tom Murray, Scientist-in-Charge, AVO
E-mail:
tlmurray@usgs.govTel. 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 Survey (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.htmlArchive of daily information KB GS RAS: http://emsd.iks.ru/~ssl/Volcanoes/