Kamchatkan and  Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE  35-07
Friday, July 20, 2007, 21:40 UTC (July 19, 10:40  KDT)

SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR  CODES:

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

NORTHERN KURILES:
CHIKURACHKI, EBEKO and ALAID:  GREEN

CURRENT CHANGES IN COLOR CODE:
KLYUCHEVSKOY IS  NOW AT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE
YELLOW

KLYUCHEVSKOY VOLCANO;  56œ03'N, 160œ39'E; Elevation 4,750 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS  YELLOW
PREVIOUS LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE

Activity of Klyuchevskoy has decreased and KVERT is now assigning level of concern color code YELLOW to the volcano: seismic
activity was at background levels during the past weak, and  ash plumes were not noted for the last four days . Still, sudden ash
explosions up to 6 km (19,700 ft.) ASL could affect international and low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity was at background levels last week, weak continuous spasmodic volcanic tremor  and a few shallow earthquakes were
registered.  According to video and visual data, ash plumes extended to the east and south-east at a height  of 5.5 km (18,040 ft)
ASL on July 13-15. Gas-steam activity was noted on July 12, 16 and 18 and the volcano was obscured by clouds on the other days.
According to satellite data, ash plumes extended for about 37-86 km (23-53 mi) to the east from the volcano on July 13. Thermal
anomaly was noted all 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

Growth of the lava dome 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.

Seismic activity remains above background levels. Many shallow volcanic earthquakes  and volcanic tremor were registered. According
to seismic data, ash plumes up to 6.0 km (19700 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano last week. Gas-steam plumes up to 3.0-4.5 km
(9,800-14,700 ft) ASL, containing some amount of ash, and avalanches were observed on July 11-15 and 18-19. Clouds obscured the
volcano in other days. According to satellite data, gas-steam and ash plumes extended for about 7-40 km (4-25 mi) to the south and
south-west from the volcano on July 15-16, a big thermal anomaly was noted all week.

KARYMSKY VOLCANO: 54œ03'N, 159œ27'E; Elevation  1,486 m.
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE

The eruption of the volcano continues. Seismic activity has increased. Ash explosions up to 6 km (or 19,700 ft.) ASL are possible at
any time. The activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the volcano.

Seismic activity was above background levels all week, 500-900 shallow volcanic earthquakes and a spasmodic volcanic tremor were
registered at volcano all days. According to seismic data, possibly ash explosions rose up to 4.5 km (14800 ft) ASL all weak.
According to satellite data, thermal anomaly was noted on July 12, 14, 16-18, ash plumes and ash clouds extended up to 75 km (47 mi)
to the south-east and south-west from the volcano on July 15, 17-18. Approximate plume altitude: 4500 m (14,700 ft) ASL (by
atmospheric profile)

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 July 15-17, did not exceed background levels on the other days. About 20 shallow
volcanic earthquakes were registered during the weak. According to visual information weak fumarolic activity was observed on July
14-15 and 18. According to satellite data a thermal anomaly was noted on July 14, 16-18, clouds obscured the volcano all days.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE  CONTACT:

Nataliya Malik, KVERT, IVS FED RAS
E-mail:
malik@kcsnet.ru
Tel. (41522) 58627
       9622826547

Tat'yana Kozevnikova, 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 Kuriles 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