Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 68-09
Thursday, December 10, 2009, 22:55 UTC (Friday, December 11, 10:55 KST)

SUMMARY OF AVIATION COLOR CODES:

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

NORTHERN KURILES:
EBEKO, CHIKURACHKI and ALAID: GREEN


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 5.5 km (18,000 ft) ASL all week. According to video data, moderate fumarolic activity was observed all week. According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly was registering over the lava dome all week. Ash plume extending about 85 km (53 mi) to the south-east from the volcano was noted on December 06.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/shv/index.html

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

Explosive-effusive eruption of the volcano continues. Ash explosions > 7.0 km (>23,000 ft)ASL could occur at any time. The activity of the volcano could affect international and low-flying aircraft.

Seismicity of the volcano was above background levels all week. According to visual data, Strombolian activity of the volcano continued all week. A height of bursts was about 200-300 m above the crater. Gas-steam plumes containing small amount of ash rose up to 6.3 km (20,700 ft) ASL and extending to the eastern directions were noted on December 05-09. An effusion of a lava flow on the east-south-eastern volcanic flank continues. According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano all week. An ash plume extending ~ 10 km (6 mi) to the E from the volcano was noted on December 09.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/klch/index.html

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

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

There was no seismic data by technical reasons almost all week. According to visual data by staff of KB GS RAS on December 08, a new lava flow was noted on the southern flank of the volcano. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano on December 03 and 06-07. Ash deposits extending about 45 km (28 mi) to the south-east from the volcano were noted on December 06.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/krm/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.

Seismic activity of the volcano was above background levels on December 08-10 and didn't exceeded background levels on December 03-05. Strong volcanic activity of Klyuchevskoy volcano obscures seismic data of Bezymianny on December 06-07. According to visual and video data, moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano was noting on December 05 and 07. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was registering on December 03, 05-07 and 09. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of week.
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

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