Report on Alaid (Russia) — 24 February-1 March 2016
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 24 February-1 March 2016
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2016. Report on Alaid (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 24 February-1 March 2016. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Alaid
Russia
50.861°N, 155.565°E; summit elev. 2285 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
KVERT reported that an intense thermal anomaly was detected in satellite images over Alaid during 0800-1256 on 21 February. Diffuse ash emissions drifted 50 km E. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Yellow (the second lowest level on a four-color scale).
Geological Summary. The highest and northernmost volcano of the Kuril Islands, Alaid is a symmetrical stratovolcano when viewed from the north, but has a 1.5-km-wide summit crater that is breached open to the south. This basaltic to basaltic-andesite volcano is the northernmost of a chain constructed west of the main Kuril archipelago. Numerous pyroclastic cones are present the lower flanks, particularly on the NW and SE sides, including an offshore cone formed during the 1933-34 eruption. Strong explosive eruptions have occurred from the summit crater beginning in the 18th century. Reports of eruptions in 1770, 1789, 1821, 1829, 1843, 1848, and 1858 were considered incorrect by Gorshkov (1970). Explosive eruptions in 1790 and 1981 were among the largest reported in the Kuril Islands.
