The last reported activity at Bezymianny included a 4-km plume and thermal anomalies visible on satellite imagery during December 2001 and January 2002 (BGVN 26:12). No further reports were issued until mid-November 2002.

On 18 November KVERT raised the Concern Color Code at Bezymianny from Green to Yellow after a 1-pixel thermal anomaly was observed on various satellite images on 16 and 17 November. The closest telemetered seismic stations, situated on Kliuchevskoi, 13.5 km from Bezymianny's lava dome, only recorded several shallow seismic events at Bezymianny: 13 in August and September, and 3 in October. High seismic activity at Kliuchevskoi made it difficult to separate Bezymianny's seismic events from Kliuchevskoi's. According to AVHRR satellite images the thermal anomaly had a temperature of 18°C in a background of -30°C.

Geological Summary. The modern Bezymianny, much smaller than its massive neighbors Kamen and Kliuchevskoi on the Kamchatka Peninsula, was formed about 4,700 years ago over a late-Pleistocene lava-dome complex and an edifice built about 11,000-7,000 years ago. Three periods of intensified activity have occurred during the past 3,000 years. The latest period, which was preceded by a 1,000-year quiescence, began with the dramatic 1955-56 eruption. This eruption, similar to that of St. Helens in 1980, produced a large open crater that was formed by collapse of the summit and an associated lateral blast. Subsequent episodic but ongoing lava-dome growth, accompanied by intermittent explosive activity and pyroclastic flows, has largely filled the 1956 crater.

Information Contacts: Olga Girina, Kamchatka Volcanic Eruptions Response Team (KVERT), Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry, Piip Ave. 9, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 683006, Russia; Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a cooperative program of a) U.S. Geological Survey, 4200 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508-4667, USA (URL: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/), b) Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, PO Box 757320, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320, USA, and c) Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, 794 University Ave., Suite 200, Fairbanks, AK 99709.