Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic
Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 45-07
Thursday, September 20,
2007, 21:40 UTC (Friday, September 21, 10:40 KDT)
SUMMARY
OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR
CODES:
KAMCHATKA:
SHEVELUCH and KARYMSKY: ORANGE
BEZYMIANNY
: YELLOW
KLYUCHEVSKOY,
TOLBACHIK PLOSKY, KIZIMEN, AVACHINSKY, KORYAKSKY, MUTNOVSKY and
GORELY: GREEN
NORTHERN
KURILES:
CHIKURACHKI: ORANGE
EBEKO
and ALAID: GREEN
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 was above background levels. Many
shallow volcanic earthquakes and an intermittent volcanic tremor were registered
all week. According to seismic data, ash plumes up to 3.5-5.5 km (11,500-18,000
ft) ASL and avalanches occurred at the volcano on September 14-15 and 17-20.
According to video data, gas-steam plumes containing ash raising up to 3.3 km
(10,800 ft) ASL and extending to the north-east and east were noted on September
14-15. Gas-steam activity of the volcano was registered on September 13 and
18-19, clouds obscured the volcano on the other days. According to satellite
data, a big thermal anomaly was noted all week. Ash plumes extended > 35 km
to the south-east from the volcano on September 15.
KARYMSKY
VOLCANO: 54œ03'N, 159œ27'E; Elevation 1,486 m.
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN
COLOR CODE IS ORANGE
The
eruption of the volcano continues. 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, many shallow volcanic earthquakes and a
spasmodic volcanic tremor were registered at the volcano all days. According to
seismic data, possibly ash explosions rose up to 3.3 km (10,800 ft) ASL on
September 15-16 and 20; and weak ash bursts occurred all week. According to
satellite data, a thermal anomaly was noted on September 13-15 and 17-19, clouds
obscured the volcano on the other days. Ash plumes and clouds extended > 90
km (> 56 mi) to the south-east from the volcano on September
15.
CHIKURACHKI VOLCANO 50œ19'N, 155œ28'E; Elevation 1,816
m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE
The
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.
According to satellite data, ash plumes extended > 110 km
(> 68 mi) from the volcano to the south-east on September 18-19, clouds
obscured the volcano on the other days.
Chikurachki volcano is not
monitored with seismic instruments. KVERT has satellite monitoring and receives
occasional visual observations of this volcano.
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 slightly
above background levels on September 14 and 20 (some shallow volcanic
earthquakes were registered), and did not exceed this level on the other days.
According to visual data, a weak fumarolic activity was noted at the dome on
September 15 and 18-19, clouds obscured the volcano on the other days. According
to satellite data, a thermal anomaly over the lava dome was noted on September
13, 15, 17-18 and 20.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS,
PLEASE CONTACT:
Olga
Girina, KVERT, IVS FED RAS
E-mail: girina@kscnet.ruTel. (41522) 58627
Tatiana Kozhevnikova, 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 Kuriles
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: ftp://emsd.iks.ru/pub/DATA/RTS/VolcanoesKVERT Information Releases at the web-page of AVO (Alaska Volcano
Observatory): http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/avoreport.php?view=kaminfo