Report on Klyuchevskoy (Russia) — March 1994
Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 19, no. 3 (March 1994)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.
Klyuchevskoy (Russia) Weak seismicity and fumarolic activity continue
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 1994. Report on Klyuchevskoy (Russia) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 19:3. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199403-300260
Klyuchevskoy
Russia
56.056°N, 160.642°E; summit elev. 4754 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
Weak volcanic tremor (0.6-1.3 hours/day) and 1-3 volcanic earthquakes/day were registered in mid-February. During late February and early March, weak tremor continued and the number of seismic events increased slightly (2-5/day). Weak volcanic tremor was consistently registered for 1-3 hours/day throughout March, although it was slightly higher (<=4.5 hours/day) during the third week. Shallow volcanic earthquakes were more variable, ranging from 2 to 18 events/day. Seismic activity during the last week of March included both deep (3-13 events/day) and shallow (1-2 events/day) earthquakes, as well as weak volcanic tremor (4.5-6 hours/day). Weak fumarolic activity from the central crater was observed throughout most of March, and on 29 March a plume extended ~1 km above the crater.
Seismicity continued to increase in the first half of April, consisting of weak deep and shallow earthquakes (4-37 events/day) and weak volcanic tremor (0.5-6 hours/day). Weak fumarolic activity was observed in the central crater on 1-4 and 13 April, and the gas-and-steam plume reached as high as 800 m above the crater.
Geological Summary. Klyuchevskoy is the highest and most active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Since its origin about 6,000 years ago, this symmetrical, basaltic stratovolcano has produced frequent moderate-volume explosive and effusive eruptions without major periods of inactivity. It rises above a saddle NE of Kamen volcano and lies SE of the broad Ushkovsky massif. More than 100 flank eruptions have occurred during approximately the past 3,000 years, with most lateral craters and cones occurring along radial fissures between the unconfined NE-to-SE flanks of the conical volcano between 500 and 3,600 m elevation. Eruptions recorded since the late 17th century have resulted in frequent changes to the morphology of the 700-m-wide summit crater. These eruptions over the past 400 years have originated primarily from the summit crater, but have also included numerous major explosive and effusive eruptions from flank craters.
Information Contacts: V. Kirianov, IVGG.