Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 30-09
Thursday, May 14, 2009, 23:55 UTC (Friday, May 15, 10:55 KDT)

SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODES:

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

NORTHERN KURILES:
EBEKO: YELLOW
CHIKURACHKI 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: a new viscous lava flow effuses at the lava dome. Ash  explosions > 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, sometimes ash plumes up to 5.4 km (17,700 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano. According to video data, an ash plume rose up to 5 km (16,400 ft) ASL from a hot avalanche on May 13. Strong gas-steam activity of the volcano was observed on May 11-12. The volcano was obscured by clouds in the other days of week. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registered over the lava dome all week.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/shv/index.html

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

A gas-steam activity of the volcano continues and aerosolic plumes could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity of the volcano was at background levels all week. According to visual data, a strong fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed on May 10-12, gas-steam plumes extended to the south and south-east from the volcano. According to satellite data, the volcano was quiet.
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 YELLOW

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

Seismic activity was above background levels on May 07-11 and at background levels on May 12-13. A weak volcanic tremor and shallow seismic events were registered in the area of the volcano all week. A moderate and strong fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed at the volcano on May 07, 09-11. A gas-steam plume rose up to 6.8 km (22,300 ft) ASL on May 11, and extended to the north-west from the volcano. The volcano was obscured by clouds in the other days of the week. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was noted over the volcano on May 07 and 12. A gas-steam plume extending about 14 km (8.7 mi) to the south-west from the volcano was registered on May 11.
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 YELLOW

Gas-steam activity of the volcano continues but a possibility of ash explosions up to 6.0 km (or 19,700 ft) ASL remains. The explosive activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismicity was above background levels on May 09-12 and at background levels in the other days. According to satellite data, the volcano was quiet.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/krm/index.html

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. A weak fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed on May 07 and 10, and the volcano was obscured by clouds in the other days of this week. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly over the dome was registered on May 07.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/bzm/index.html

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

Seismicity of the volcano was above background levels on May 07-10 and at background levels on May 11-13. KVERT continues to watch the Gorely volcano.

According to visual data, a weak or moderate gas-steam activity of the volcano was observed on May 07 and 10-13. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of week. According to satellite monitoring, a weak thermal anomaly over the volcano was registered on May 11-12.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/grl/index.html

EBEKO VOLCANO, Paramushir Island, Northern Kurile: 50°41'N, 156°01'E; Elevation 1,156
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE: YELLOW

Activity of the volcano continues. Strong gas-steam emission sometimes with ash occur at Ebeko at present. The danger of sudden ash explosions up to 3.5 km (11,500 ft.) ASL exists. Activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft.

According to the data by observers from Severo-Kurilsk (Paramushir Island), gas-steam plumes containing a small amount of ash rose up to 1.5-2.7 km (4,900-8,860 ft) ASL and extended about 9 km (5 mi) from the volcano. A weak ash fall was noted at Severo-Kurilsk on May 10. According to satellite monitoring, there were not registered a thermal anomaly over the volcano and ash plumes.

Ebeko volcano is not monitored with seismic instruments. KVERT uses satellite monitoring and receives occasional visual observations from Paramushir Island.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/ebk/index.html


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