Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 02-09
Thursday, January 07,  2009, 03:40 UTC (15:40 KST)

SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF  CONCERN COLOR CODES:

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

NORTHERN KURILES:
CHIKURACHKI, EBEKO and ALAID: GREEN

KORYAKSKY VOLCANO; 53°19'N, 158°43'E; Elevation 3, 456 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW
PREVIOUS LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE

Strong fumarolic activity of the volcano continues. Possibly activities of the volcano will increase. The activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity of the volcano was at background levels all week. According to visual data, gas-steam plumes extended to the south-west from the volcano on January 06-07. There were ash plumes not registered on satellite images during the past week.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/krk/index.html

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

Explosive-effusive eruption of the volcano continues. Probably an ash explosive activity of the volcano will grow. The activity of the volcano is dangerous for 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, but seismic activity of the volcano slightly decreased. According to visual data on December 25, gas-steam plume containing ash rose up to 5.5 km (18,000 ft) ASL. Lava effusion on the north-western flank of the volcano continues. Strombolian activity of the volcano was noted on December 25 and 27. Small ash fall at Kozyrevsk village was noted on December 27. According to satellite data, a large thermal anomaly was registered over the volcano all week. Ash plumes extended about 250 km (155 mi) to the north-east from the volcano on December 25-26. There was noted an ash cloud 6 km (4 mi) long in 34 km (21 mi) to the north-west from the volcano.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/klch/index.html

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

The lava flow continues to effuse on the southern and northern flanks of the lava dome. 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. According to seismic data, probably ash plumes up to 7 km (23,000 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano on December 25-26, and up to 5.5 km (18,000 ft) ASL in the other days last week. According to visual data, an ash plume rose up to 5.5 km (18,000 ft) ASL on December 25. Moderate gas-steam activity was noted on December 25 and 30 and January 01. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of the week. According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly was registered over the lava dome all week. An ash plume extended about 40 km (25 mi) to the north-west from the volcano on December 30.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/shv/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.

There was not seismic data all week by technical reasons. According to satellite data, clouds obscured the volcano all 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. 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 moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed on web-camera on December 25-26 and January 01. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of the week. According to satellite data, the volcano was obscured by clouds.


IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS,  PLEASE CONTACT:

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

Irina Nuzhdina, 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