Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 16-08
Thursday, April 17, 2008, 23:25 UTC (Friday, April 18, 10:25 KDT)

SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODES:

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

NORTHERN KURILES:
CHIKURACHKI, EBEKO 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 and 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.

Seismicity was slightly above background levels on April 10-15 and at the background levels on April 16. The number of weak shallow earthquakes in the area of the volcano has decreased to the end of the week. According to seismic data, an ash plume up to 3.0 km (9,600 ft) ASL possibly occurred at the volcano on April 14. According to visual and video data, a moderate fumarolic activity of the dome was observed on April 12-15. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registered over the lava dome on April 11-14.

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

Activity of the volcano continues and ash explosions up to 6 km (or 19,700 ft.) ASL could occur at any time. The explosive activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the  volcano.

Seismic activity was above background levels all week. According to seismic data, possible weak ash-gas explosions or hot avalanches occurred at the volcano on April 10-14. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano on April 12-13.

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. A viscous lava flow is effusing at the lava dome. Sudden ash  emission related to this activity could affect low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the volcano.

Seismic activity was at the background levels on April 12-14, and didn`t exceed background levels in the other days. According to visual and video data, a weak or moderate fumarolic activity was noted on the lava dome on April 12-14. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly over the lava dome was observing on April 12-13. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR  CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT:

Olga Girina, KVERT, IVS FED RAS
E-mail: girina@kscnet.ru
Tel. (41522) 58627

Svetlana Toloknova, KVERT, KB GS RAS
E-mail: ssl@emsd.iks.ru 
Tel. (41522) 59523

Christina Neal, Scientist-in-Charge,  AVO
E-mail: tneal@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_eng.php
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