More on the eruption of Sarychev Peak

More information is available on the ongoing eruption of the Russian volcano Sarychev Peak, which is located on Matua Island in the Kuril Islands. According to an update today from the Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT), the organization which keeps an eye on the Kuril volcanoes, the eruption which began on Friday 12 June 2009, is an event of significant magnitude:

REPORT ABOUT AN ERUPTION IN THE KURIL ISLANDS

June 15, 2009

SARYCHEV VOLCANO

(Matua island, Central Kuril Islands), CAVW# -0900-24
Coordinates: Lat 48o06’N, Long 153o12′ E
The last eruption :1976
Elevation: 1446 m (4744 F)
AVIATION COLOR CODE: RED

The eruption of the volcano continues

According to data of MTSAT 0906141930 UTC the great volcanic explosion occurred. The suggested height of ash plume is up to 8 km.

According to MODIS 0906150007 UTC all ash cloud are seen on the south-east and north-west. whole length is more than 600 km.

A volcanic ash advisory from Tokyo VAAC timed at 06:15 GMT today reports observations of an ash cloud at FL450 (45000 feet a.s.l., which is about 13700 metres). An earlier report (00:05 GMT today) reported ash at FL540 (54000 feet a.s.l., about 16450 metres). A SVERT report from 14 June referred to an ash plume ‘about 12 km above sea level’ following a ‘large explosion’ at the volcano. Ash emissions at this height over the North Pacific have potential to disrupt air traffic. Information can be hard to come by, however, as SVERT is not a 24-hour operation and volcanoes in this area, including Sarychev Peak, are not directly monitored through instruments.

The MODVOLCS thermal alerts monitoring website run by the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology shows significant thermal anomalies at Sarychev Peak over the last few days, with hot ash present in the plume and extensive lava flows:

Above: Montage of MODIS images of thermal anomalies at Sarychev Peak, 11-14 June 2009 (Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology).

More updates on Sarychev Peak as information comes in, and there’s more coverage at Eruptions as well. The Volcanism Blog’s Russian-language department is currently on holiday: we’ll check out any Russian media reports on this eruption as soon as she gets back.

[Thanks to Fabrice Digonnet of Activolcans for very helpful updates on the Sarychev eruption.]

News
Volcanic eruption creates giant cloud threatening planes – Telegraph, 14 June 2009

Information
Global Volcanism Program: Sarychev Peak – summary information for Sarychev Peak (0900-24=)
Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT) – organization monitoring Kuril volcanoes
SVERT status reports – current and archived alerts and status reports