Volcanos

The Kamchatka River and the surrounding central side valley are flanked by large volcanic belts containing around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them still active. The peninsula has a high density of volcanoes and associated volcanic phenomena, with 19 active volcanoes included in the six UNESCO World Heritage List sites in the Volcanoes of Kamchatka group, most of them on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the most volcanic area of the Eurasian continent, with many active cones. Three volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Shiveluch, Kizimen and Plosky Tolbachik, are erupting simultaneously, and a flight safety warning has been issued for the area.

­Plosky Tolbachik on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, dormant since its most notable recent eruption in 1975, is spilling up to 1,200 metric tons of lava every second – a record amount – and spewing clouds of ash nearly 3,000 meters into the air, local seismologists estimated. 

The road to the 3,085-meter Plosky Tolbachik runs through the frozen Studenka River. Despite the risky route, up to a hundred cars full of tourists brave the crossing every day to get to the nearby mountain.

The tourists – who ignore warning signs and the dangers of leaking lava, hot falling rocks and clouds of ash – pay top prices and take a 10-hour car ride to see the volcano. The trip reportedly costs 20,000 rubles (about $650) for locals and close to $1000 for Moscow tourists, nearly equal to the average monthly wage in the capital.

The highest volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4,750 m or 15,584 ft), the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere,^[8] while the most striking is Kronotsky.

The most recent events  were reported by both Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team KVERT who reported that moderate explosive activity at Karymsky continued Feb 12 thru the 19. Satellite images detected a daily thermal anomaly, and ash plumes from explosions that drifted about 125 km E. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.

Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT) reported that satellite images detected a thermal anomaly over Snow, a volcano of Chirpoi, February16 thru the 19. The Aviation Color Code remained at Yellow.

KVERT monitors and reports on volcanic hazards to aviation for Kamchatka and the north Kuriles. They utilize real-time seismic data, daily satellite views of the region, real-time video, and pilot and field reports of activity to track and alert the aviation industry of hazardous activity. Most Kurile Island volcanoes are monitored by SVERT based in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. SVERT uses daily moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images to look for volcanic activity along this 1,250-km chain of islands. Neither operation is staffed 24 h per day. In addition, the vast majority of Russian volcanoes are not monitored seismically in real-time. Other challenges include multiple time-zones and language differences that hamper communication among volcanologists and meteorologists in the US, Japan, and Russia who share the responsibility to issue official warnings. Rapid, consistent verification of explosive eruptions and determination of cloud heights remain significant technical challenges. Despite these difficulties, in more than a decade of frequent eruptive activity in Kamchatka and the northern Kuriles, no damaging encounters with volcanic ash from Russian eruptions have been recorded.

Russia

COLOR	State of the Volcano
GREEN	Volcano is in typical background, noneruptive state or, after a change from a higher level, volcanic activity has ceased and volcano has returned to noneruptive background state.
YELLOW	Volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest above known background level or, after a change from a higher level, volcanic activity has decreased significantly but continues to be closely monitored for possible renewed increase.
ORANGE	Volcano is exhibiting heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption, timeframe uncertain, OR eruption is underway with no or minor volcanic-ash emissions [ash-plume height specified, if possible].
RED	Eruption is imminent with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere likely OR eruption is underway or suspected with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere [ash-plume height specified, if possible].

Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)

Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT)

http://www.themoscowtimes.com

https://en.wikipedia.org

https://www.rt.com

http://www.volcanolive.com/alerts.html