Kamchatkan and Northern
Kurile Volcanic Activity
INFORMATION RELEASE 59-06
Friday, December 22,
2006, 10:30 KST (22:30 UTC on December 21)
SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF
CONCERN COLOR CODES:
KAMCHATKA:
KARYMSKY and SHEVELUCH:
ORANGE
BEZYMIANNY and
KLYUCHEVSKOY: YELLOW
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 the data by pilots of EIA aircraft, an ash plume rose up
to 7.0 km (23,000 ft.) ASL and extended to the east from the volcano. According
to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly over the dome was noted during the
week. Ash plumes extending from 9 km till 240 km (5.6 - 149 mi) to the east
directions from the volcano were observed on December
16-18.
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 volcano continues. Ash explosions up to
10 km (32,800 ft.) ASL could occur at any time. The activity of the volcano
could affect international and low-flying aircraft. Growth of the lava dome
continues.
Seismic activity was above background levels last week.
Several tens of shallow earthquakes were registered at the volcano. According to
visual and video data, separate short lived ash plumes rose up to 10.0 km
(32,800 ft) ASL and extended to the east directions on December 16-17 and 20.
According to satellite data (AVO, KVERT, KB GS RAS), ash plumes extending from
10 till 570 km (3-353 mi) mainly to the east directions from the volcano were
detected all week.
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 December 15 and 19-20, and at background levels in the
other days. Several shallow earthquakes were registered during the week.
According to visual and video data, a moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano
was observed all the week. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly over
the dome was noting during the week.
KLYUCHEVSKOY VOLCANO; 56œ 03'N, 160œ 39'E;
Elevation 4,750 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW
Seismic
activity of the volcano gradually increases. The activity of the summit volcanic
crater, possibly, could affect international and low-flying
aircraft.
Seismic activity was slightly above background levels during
the week. According to visual observations, a weak and moderate fumarolic
activity of the terminal volcanic crater was observed all days. According to
satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was registered over the volcano on
December 14-16 and 19-21.
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/