The Concern Color Code at Veniaminof was increased on 4 November from Green to Yellow after a low-level minor ash emission occurred from the intracaldera cone beginning at 0929. Ash rose a few hundred meters above the cone, drifted E, and dissipated rapidly. Minor ashfall was probably confined to the summit caldera. During the previous 2 weeks, occasional steaming from the intracaldera cone was observed. Very weak seismic tremor and a few small discrete seismic events were recorded at the station closest to the active cone. However, AVO reported that there were no indications from seismic data that a significantly larger eruption was imminent. They expect that steam and ash emissions may continue intermittently and could pose a hazard to people and low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the active cone.

Geological Summary. Veniaminof, on the Alaska Peninsula, is truncated by a steep-walled, 8 x 11 km, glacier-filled caldera that formed around 3,700 years ago. The caldera rim is up to 520 m high on the north, is deeply notched on the west by Cone Glacier, and is covered by an ice sheet on the south. Post-caldera vents are located along a NW-SE zone bisecting the caldera that extends 55 km from near the Bering Sea coast, across the caldera, and down the Pacific flank. Historical eruptions probably all originated from the westernmost and most prominent of two intra-caldera cones, which rises about 300 m above the surrounding icefield. The other cone is larger, and has a summit crater or caldera that may reach 2.5 km in diameter, but is more subdued and barely rises above the glacier surface.

Source: US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)