Kliuchevskoi, Russia
- Kliuchevskoi is one of the most active
volcanoes of the Kamchatka peninsula in far eastern Russia. The volcano
has had more than 80 eruptions since 1697. On September 15, 1994, gas
and ash shot out of the crater, creating a column 2 km high. Over the
next two weeks the eruption continued, and on 1 October a giant eruption
occurred. A cloud of ash rose 15-20 km above the volcano. A picture
taken by a weather satellite showed that the ash cloud extended 565
km to the SE, and that it was moving at about 140 km/hr (~85 mile/hr)!
While ash was being blown out the top of the volcano, new rivers of
lava flowed down its flanks. During the next three days the eruption
stopped, and only steam rose above the crater.
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- Because few people live near Kliuchevskoi
there was little immediate danger, and most of the ash blew out to sea.
However, Kamchatka is on a major airline route and at least one Boeing
747 Jumbo Jet had to fly higher to avoid ash layers at 9-11 km elevation.
Aircraft that flew through ash clouds from eruptions of other volcanoes
have had their engines clogged with ash and the planes nearly crashed.
Last updated: July 1, 1999
- On June 26 and 27, a gas and steam plume
rose 50 m above the crater. Hypocenters of earthquakes were concentrated
at the summit crater and were at shallow depths.
February 5, 1997
- During the week of January 13-20, 1997,
seismic activity under Klyuchevskoi volcano was higher than normal.
On January 13 and 14 volcanic gas extended 1000-2000 ft (300-600 m)
above the volcanoÕs crater. An ash plume stretched for 6.2 miles
(10 km) to the east. On January 15, an explosion sent gas and steam
to heights of 3900 ft (1200 m) above KlyuchevskoiÕs crater and
stretched for 9.3 miles (15 km) to the southeast. Gas and steam continued
to rise from the crater on January 16, but reached only to a height
of about 1600 ft (500 m).
January 30 - February 2, 1997
- Gas and steam reached 325-1000 ft (100-300
m) above the volcano and stretched three miles (five km) to the south
February 3, 1997
- An eruption began from the central crater
of Klyuchevskoi at 10:30 AM. Within an hour, explosions threw ash up
to 1000 ft (300 m) above the crater. A plume stretched 20-30 miles (30-50
km) to the southeast. By 12:30, this activity had begun to decline.
Ash reached only 300 ft (100 m) above the crater at this time. The eruption
could have been caused by a collapse of material within the crater
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