Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 16-09
Thursday, March 26, 2009, 23:00 UTC (Friday, March 27, 11:00 KST)

SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODES:

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

NORTHERN KURILES:
CHIKURACHKI, EBEKO and ALAID: GREEN

CURRENT CHANGES IN COLOR CODE:
GORELY IS NOW AT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE YELLOW

GORELY VOLCANO: 52°33'N, 158°02'E, Elevation 1,829 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW
PREVIOUS LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS GREEN

Seismicity of the volcano increase from March 10 till present. It was above background levels all week. But according to visual and satellite data, the volcano is quiet at now. KVERT continue to look after Gorely volcano.

A first after a long time a strong fumarolic activity of Gorely volcano was observed on November 28, 2007. A height of gas-steam plume was about 400 m above volcanic crater: http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/grl/index.html

Last strong explosive eruption of the volcano Gorely occurred in 1986. Ash plumes rose up to ~ 5.0 km (16,400 ft) ASL. Gorely volcano is located about 75 km to the south-west from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Phreatic and phreato-magmatic eruptions are typical for the volcano.

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 eastern 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 6 km (19,700 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano. According to visual data, explosions sent ash up to 8 km (26,200 ft) ASL on March 24. Strong and moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed on March 23-26. Clouds obscured the volcano during the other days of the week. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registered over the lava dome all week. Ash deposits extending about 40 km to the south from the volcano were noted on March 25.

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

Activity of the volcano continues. Aerosolic plumes containing ash continues to observing at the volcano. The activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity of the volcano was at background levels all week. Aerosolic plumes containing small amount of ash rose up to 4.0 km (13,200 ft) ASL and extended to the west, north-west, south and south-east from the volcano. According to satellite data, aerosolic plumes containing ash extended about 225 km (140 mi) to the south-east from the volcano on March 25-26.

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

Explosive activity of the volcano continues and ash explosions up to 6.0 km (or 19,700 ft) ASL are possible. The explosive activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the volcano.

Seismic activity was above background levels on March 19-22 and didn't exceeded background levels on March 23-24. According to seismic data, probably ash plumes up to 2.0 km (6,500 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano. According to satellite data, ash deposits extending to the south from the volcano about 30 km (18.6 mi) were noted on March 26.

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

Moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano continues. Gas-steam and/or aerosolic with ash plumes from the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity was above background levels all week. According to visual data, a weak and moderate fumarolic activity was observed at the volcano on March 22-26. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was registered over the volcano on March 19, 23 and 26. Clouds obscured the volcano during the other days.

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.

Seismic activity of the volcano didn't exceeded background levels last week. According to visual data, a weak and moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed on March 22-26. Clouds obscured the volcano during the other days. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly over the dome was registered on March 23-26.


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