Kamchatkan and Northern Kurile Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 05-07
Friday, February 02, 2007, 10:50 KST (22:50 UTC on February 01)
SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODES:

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

NORTHERN KURILE:
EBEKO, CHIKURACHKI and ALAID:
GREEN

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
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 local aircraft.
 
Seismic activity was slightly above background levels last week, over 140 volcanic earthquakes and volcanic tremor were registered. According to seismic data, probably ash plumes up to 3.5-4.5 km (11,500-14,800 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano all week. According to visual and video data, gas-steam plumes containing ash rose up to 4.5 km (14,800 ft) all week. According to satellite data, gas-steam plumes containing ash extended > 400 km (248 mi) to the east-southeast from the volcano last weak. A big thermal anomaly was noting all week. A hot lava extrudes at the top of the dome.

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

An 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.

Seismic activity was above background levels last week. According to seismic data, a number of weak local shallow earthquakes was 250-300 per day. Possibly, ash explosions up to 3.0 km (9,900 ft) ASL occurred last week. According to the data from AMC Yelizovo, a gas-steam plume raising up to 100 m from the volcanic crater was observed by pilots of local airlines at 23:25 UTC on January 31. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly over the volcano was noted on December 27 and 31.

BEZYMIANNY VOLCANO: 55°58'N, 160°36'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 at background levels on January 27 and 31, and did not exceed background levels in the other days. According to visual and video data, gas-steam plumes rose up to 3.5 km (11,500) ASL and extended to the eastern directions all week. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly over the lava dome was noted all week.

KLYUCHEVSKOY VOLCANO; 56°03'N, 160°39'E; Elevation 4,750 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW

Seismic activity of the volcano continues. The activity of the summit volcanic crater, possibly, could affect international and low-flying aircraft.
 
Seismicity was at background levels during the week. About 50 weak seismic events into the volcanic edifice were registered last weak. A weak volcanic tremor is registering on February 01, from 18:17 UTC till present. According to visual observations, a weak fumarolic activity of the volcano was noted this week.

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, KB 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 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.html
Archive of daily information KB GS RAS: ftp://emsd.iks.ru/pub/DATA/RTS/Volcanoes
KVERT Information Releases at the web-page of AVO (Alaska Volcano Observatory): http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/avoreport.php?view=kaminfo