Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 53-08
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 22:40 UTC (Friday, November 21, 10:40 KST)

SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODES:

KAMCHATKA:
KLYUCHEVSKOY, SHEVELUCH and KARYMSKY : ORANGE
BEZYMIANNY : YELLOW
TOLBACHIK PLOSKY, KIZIMEN, AVACHINSKY, KORYAKSKY, MUTNOVSKY and GORELY: 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 (the lava flow is effusing on the southern flank of the lava dome) 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 above background levels all week: a lot of volcanic earthquakes and an intermittent volcanic tremor were registered at the area of the the volcano. According to seismic data, ash plumes could rose up to 6.0 km (19,700 ft) ASL past week. A weak and moderate fumarolic activity of the lava dome was observed on web-camera on November 16-17. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of the week. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registered over the lava dome all week. Gas-steam plume about 104 km (64 mi) long extending to the east was observed on November 14.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/shv/index.html

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

A Strombolian activity of the volcano continues. Possibly a lava flow will effuse to a volcanic slope in the near future. Moreover, an explosive process could increase at any time. The activity of the volcano could affect international and low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity of the volcano was above background levels: a lot of volcanic earthquakes and continuous volcanic tremor were registered at the volcano all week. According to video and visual data, gas-steam plumes containing small amount of ash rose up to 500 m above the terminal crater on November 13-17. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days. Sounds of bursts at the volcano were heard in Klyuchi on November 17. According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly was registered over the volcano all week.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/klch/index.html

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 are possible. The explosive activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity of the volcano was above background levels on November 13-17, and at background levels on November 18-19. According to seismic data, possibly ash-gas explosions up to 3.3 km (10,800 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano on November 13-17. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registered over the volcano on November 13-16. An ash plume extending 28 km (17 mi) to the east from the volcano was observed on November 15. Clouds obscured the volcano on the other days of the week.

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 - possibly a viscous lava flow continues to effusing to the south-southeast flank of the dome. Sudden ash emission related to this activity could affect low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the volcano.

Strong seismicity of Klyuchevskoy volcano does not allow to detach a seismicity of Bezymianny volcano. A weak fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed on web-camera on November 16. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of the week. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was registered over the lava dome on November 15-16 and 18.


IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT:

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

Oxana Sobolevskaya, KVERT, KB GS RAS
E-mail: ssl@emsd.ru
Tel. (41522) 59523

Dr. Tom Murray, Scientist-in-Charge, USGS
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_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