Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 57-08
Tuesday, December 09, 2008, 23:15 UTC (Wednesday, December 10, 11:15 KST)

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

Explosive-effusive eruption of the volcano continues but explosive activity somewhat decreased last 5-7 hours. Gas-steam plumes containing small amount of ash extended to the north-northeast from the volcano at 22:50 UTC on December 09. The activity of the volcano is dangerous for international and low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity of the volcano continues to remain above background levels: a lot of volcanic earthquakes and continuous volcanic tremor were registered at the volcano all week. According to visual data, the lava flow continues to move downwards on the north-western flank of the volcano. Strombolian activity of the volcano continues too: volcanic bombs rose up to 500 m above the crater. According to new data, a front of the lava flow was located about at 2.0 km ASL on December 09. Sometimes phreatic bursts occur on a contact of lava flow front and Erman Glacier. According to satellite data, a large thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano all week. Gas-steam plumes containing small amount of ash extended to the north-northeast from the volcano at 22:50 UTC on December 09.


IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT:

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

Svetlana Toloknova, 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