Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION  RELEASE 17-08
Thursday, April 24, 2008, 23:25 UTC (Friday, April 25, 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

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 up to 2.6-3.4 km (8,300-10,900 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano on April 20-21. A volcanic tremor was registered on April 19 and 21. According to visual data by volcanologists from an area of the volcano, weak ash plumes up to 2.0 km (6,600 ft) ASL were noted on April 20-23. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano on April 18 and 21.

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 at the background levels all week. According to visual and video data, a weak fumarolic activity of the dome was observed on April 21-23. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registered over the lava dome on April 18 and 20-23.

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 21-23, 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 20 and 22. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly over the lava dome was observing on April 18 and 20. 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

Tatiana Kozhevnikova,  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