Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 54-09
Thursday, September 17, 2009, 22:50 UTC (Friday, September 18, 11:50 KDT)

SUMMARY OF AVIATION COLOR CODES:

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

NORTHERN KURILES:
EBEKO, CHIKURACHKI and ALAID: GREEN

KAMCHATKA:

CURRENT CHANGES IN AVIATION COLOR CODE:
AVIATION COLOR CODE OF KLYUCHEVSKOY IS YELLOW

KLYUCHEVSKOY VOLCANO; 56° 03'N, 160° 39'E; Elevation 4,750  m
CURENT AVIATION COLOR CODE IS YELLOW
PREVIOUS AVIATION COLOR CODE WAS GREEN

Activity of the volcano increased. A thermal anomaly was observed night-time. Explosive activity with ash of the volcano could affect international and low-flying aircraft.

Seismicity didn't exceeded background levels all week. Weak volcanic tremor was registering all week. According to visual data, weak Strombolian activity in the volcanic crater was observed in night-time on September 16-17. A height of bursts was about 70 m above the crater. Weak and moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano was noted on September 14-17. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of week. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano on September 13-17.
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
AVIATION 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, possibly ash plumes rose up to 7.1 km (23,300 ft) ASL last week. According to visual and video data, moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano was noted on September 13 and 16-17. Deposits of pyroclastic flow were observed on the southern part of apron of the dome on September 13. Run-out of flow deposits was about 5 km. Hot avalanches from the lava dome were noting in the night time on September 16-17. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of week. According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly was registering 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
AVIATION COLOR CODE IS YELLOW


Activity of the volcano continues and gas-steam plumes and possible ash plumes could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismicity didn't exceeded background levels all week. Weak volcanic tremor was registering all week. According to visual data, gas-steam plumes rose up to 3.7 km (12,100 ft) ASL on September 12-17. Aerosolic plumes extended >10 km (6 mi) to the eastern directions from the volcano. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of week. According to satellite data, the volcano was quiet.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/krk/index.html

BEZYMIANNY VOLCANO: 55°58'N, 160°36'E; Elevation 2,895 m
AVIATION 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.

Seismicity didn't exceeded background levels all week. According to video data, clouds obscured the volcano all week. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was registering over the lava dome on September 14-17.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/bzm/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

Tatiana Kozhevnikova, 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