From Russia comes news that Russian and US volcanologists are to join forces to study Bezymianny, one of the many active volcanoes of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The principal hazard posed by eruptive activity at Bezymianny is to aviation. KVERT, the organization that monitors the Kamchatka volcanoes, summarizes its hazards thus:

Moderate potential hazards are caused by ash plumes, ash falls, pyroclastic flows, hot avalanches and lahars. The volcano constitutes a potential hazard to international and local airlines at Kamchatka because its eruptive clouds can rise to a height of 8-15 km ASL and extend for hundreds of kilometers from the volcano to different directions.

In a project lasting several years, the Russian/US team will be installing modern seismic and other monitoring networks and probing the volcano’s eruptive processes. The project involves scientists from the Russian Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

Bezymianny was thought to be extinct until a violent eruption in 1955-6 proved otherwise. On 30 March 1956 an explosive eruption notably similar to that of Mount St Helens in 1980 took place: the upper 180m of the volcano was blown apart, leaving a crater 1.5km in width and projecting an eruption cloud to the east to a height of 40km, at an angle of between 30 and 40 degrees to the horizon. Trees were felled by the directed blast for 24km, and mudflows choked the Kamchatka River. Since then there has been lava-dome growth at Bezymianny, with intermittent explosive eruptions once or twice each year. The RIA-Novosti news agency observes that the 1955-6 eruption of Bezymianny had a profound impact on volcano awareness in the USSR (as it then was), and resulted in the establishment of permanent volcano monitoring stations and the institution of a Soviet Day of Volcanology on 30 March each year.*

[* Thanks to AS for her Russian translations.]

Information
Global Volcanism Program: Bezymianny - summary information for Bezymianny (1000-25=)
Bezymianny volcano - information from KVERT

News
Most dangerous volcano of Kamchatka to be studied - Russia-InfoCentre, 26 June 2008
Вулканологи исследуют самый опасный вулкан Камчатки - RIA-Novosti, 24 June 2008 (Russian)*

The Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reports today that Karymsky volcano on Kamchatka ‘has spewed an ash column to a height of 4.5 kilometres above sea level’ and that a ’surge of seismic activity has been registered’. An information release from KVERT on 9 May 2008 warns that ‘Activity of the volcano continues and ash explosions up to 6 km (or 19,700 ft.) ASL could occur at any time’. The current alert level for Karymsky is orange.

KVERT also reports that activity at Shiveluch has decreased but ash explosions up to 10 km could occur at any time. As is almost always the case, avalanches and fumarolic activity are occurring at the lava dome, and thermal anomalies have been registered. The current alert level for Shiveluch is orange.

Information
Global Volcanism Program: Karymsky - summary information for Karymsky (1000-13=)
Global Volcanism Program: Shiveluch - summary information for Shiveluch (1000-27=)
KVERT: Karymsky volcano - KVERT (Kamchatka Volcanoes Emergency Response Team) profile for Karymsky
KVERT: Sheveluch volcano - KVERT (Kamchatka Volcanoes Emergency Response Team) profile for Shiveluch
KVERT: information releases - current activity summary for Kamchatka volcanoes
Alaska Volcano Observatory - Activity - includes AVO reports on Kamchatka volcanoes
Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team - KVERT information page from the AVO

News
Karymsky volcano on Kamchatka spews ash column to 4,5 km - ITAR-TASS, 10 May 2008

A new satellite image of Karymsky volcano in Kamchatka has been posted at the NASA Earth Observatory Natural Hazards site. The image, taken by NASA’s Aqua satellite on 29 March 2008, shows a faint plume from Karymsky blowing away to the south-west across the snowy Kamchatka landscape.

EO Natural Hazards: Plume from Karymsky

Volcano Karymsky on Kamchatka has erupted, reports Vostok Media today. Seismologists recorded ‘nearly 100 separate shocks’ over a 24-hour period, and although the eruption of lava and volcanic bombs has not been observed, rockfalls have taken place on the volcano’s slopes. A steam and ash plume has reportedly reached an altitude of 7 kilometres.

Karymsky is among Kamchatka’s most active volcanoes, with its most recent significant eruptive episode occurring between June and November 2007. During March 2008 its behaviour has been characterized by above-normal seismic activity, ash plumes and avalanches. The alert level colour code for the volcano is currently orange.

Information
Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program - summary information for Karymsky (1000-13=)
KVERT: Karymsky Volcano - KVERT (Kamchatka Volcanoes Emergency Response Team) profile for Karymsky
KVERT: information releases - current activity summary for Kamchatka volcanoes
Alaska Volcano Observatory - Activity - includes AVO reports on Kamchatka volcanoes
Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team - KVERT information page from the AVO

News
Volcano Karymsky erupts on Kamchatka - Vostok Media, 31 March 2008

Further to our earlier post, the Alaska Volcano Observatory has a KVERT information release relating to the current explosive event at Shiveluch (or Sheveluch) volcano, Kamchatka:

Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 63-07
Wednesday, December 19, 2007, 19:50 UTC (Thursday, December 20, 07:50 KST)

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 RED
PREVIOUS LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE

According to satellite data, new explosive event at Sheveluch volcano occurred ~ at 05:30 UTC on December 19. Ash cloud is moving > 300 km to the south-west from the volcano to the Central Kamchatka for this time. Puff the cloud is at 6-8 km ASL. Possibly the explosive eruption of the volcano will continues.

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.

Strong culmination explosive eruption of the lava dome of Young Sheveluch volcano occurred in 1993, 2001, 2004 and two in 2005.

Level of concern colour code of RED indicates that ‘Major explosive eruption expected within 24 hours. Large ash plume(s) expected to reach at least 25,000 feet above sea level. Strong earthquake activity detected even at distant monitoring stations. Explosive eruption may be in progress’. Nevertheless, the reference to ‘Puff the cloud’ is rather charming. The full text of the information release is here.

Shiveluch, the northernmost volcano of Kamchatka, erupted powerfully on the night of 18/19 December 2007, according to Russian reports. The collapse of a 100-metre lava dome produced large volumes of ash, gas and magmatic materials. Ash rose to heights of 10-12 kilometres, and pyroclastic flows travelling 6-7 kilometres and reaching temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius occurred on the southern slopes. Satellite images show a dark ash plume stretching 600 kilometres to the west of the volcano.

The current phase of eruptive activity at Shiveluch began on 15 August 1999, and the last large-scale eruption was in December 2006. The most recent ash emissions were recorded on 29 August 2007. Shiveluch is one of the most active Kamchatka volcanoes, with over 60 Holocene eruptions recorded.

Information
Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program - summary information for Shiveluch (1000-27=)
Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Kamchtaka - Shiveluch volcano
Alaska Volcano Observatory - Activity - includes AVO reports on Kamchatka volcanoes
Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team - KVERT information page from the AVO

News
Powerful volcano eruption in Kamchatka - Russia InfoCentre
Powerful eruption last night at northernmost Kamchatka volcano - Nakanune.ru News (Russian)