Thermal anomalies detected during February-June 2010

No eruptive or thermal activity is known on Tiatia between 1988 and the beginning of 2010, but thermal anomalies began in February 2010. During its last activity, in 1988, Tiatia displayed steaming in many parts of the crater (SEAN 13:11). The volcano, whose alternate names include Tyatya and Chacha-dake, sits near the NE margin of Kunashir Island (figures 1-3).

Figure 1. A map showing the location of Tiatia volcano very near the southern end of the Kurile island chain. For scale, NE-trending Kunashir Island is 123 km long. Tiatia and the city of Sapporo (on the NW side of Hokkaido Island, Japan) are ~ 600 km apart.

Figure 2. Two aerial views of Tiatia disclose its striking morphology. (left) View in 1973 showing the symmetrical caldera rim, which encircles an axially symmetrical inner cone with a broken top; scoria cones lie on the SE slope (mid- to foreground). (right) Viewed from the S in 2008 on a clear day. Courtesy of volcanologist Anatoly Khrenov (1973 photo) and blogger Udachnik (2008 photo).

Figure 3. An ASTER image of Tiatia taken on 29 June 2006 shows considerable snow surrounding the crater and down the caldera's flanks. Where visible, the slopes generally appear densely vegetated, except for the crater, some upslope areas, and around minor cones on the lower right and upper center. N is towards the top; the summit caldera is ~ 2 km in diameter. Courtesy of Aster Volcano Archive.

According to the Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT), thermal anomalies were detected during 2010 by satellite on 9 February, 31 May, 10 June, 19 June, and 25 June. Tiatia lacks a local seismic instrument and satellites are the primary tool used for monitoring. The satellites used in detecting these anomalies was not identified. MODVOLC thermal alerts were absent, a circumstance that could be explained by their reasonably high threshold in order to minimize the mis-identification of thermal activity.

Information Contacts: Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT), Alexander Rybin, IMGG FEB RAS, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (URL: http://www.imgg.ru/); The ASTER Volcano Archive (AVA), NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology (URL: http://ava.jpl.nasa.gov/volcano.asp); Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) Thermal Alerts System, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Univ. of Hawai'i, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA (URL: http://modis.higp.hawaii.edu/); Udachnik (URL: http://dirty.ru/comments/245960).

Information is preliminary and subject to change. All times are local (unless otherwise noted)

July 1973 (CSLP 92-73)

Frequent explosions generate 5-km-high plume and cause ashfall

Card 1677 (16 July 1973) Loud explosions and heavy local ashfall

The Tiatia volcano began erupting several months ago . . . . During the current activity a crater has formed at the foothills of the eastern slope and is ejecting ash at 1-second intervals. The eruption cloud reaches a height of 5 km above the summit, and flames can be observed at night. The explosions are audible up to a distance of 50 km from the volcano, and the depth of ash near the volcano measures up to 60 cm thick.

Card 1684 (27 July 1973) Eruption cloud rises to 5-6 km; explosions every 40-60 seconds

After lying dormant since 1812, [Tiatia] erupted on 14 July. The volcano has been continually throwing out fire and ash every 1.5-2 minutes, and the color of the island changed from green to a dirty gray in the space of two days.

This eruption . . . was preceded by a series of earthquakes of considerable magnitude. A very strong shock occurred on 17 June, and a second, stronger earthquake followed a week later.

On the second day of the eruption it was observed that the eruption cloud reached a height of 5,000-6,000 m, and that the explosions were occurring every 40-60 seconds.

Information Contacts:
Card 1677 (16 July 1973) Y. M. Doubik, IV.
Card 1684 (27 July 1973) Y. M. Doubik, IV.

July 1978 (SEAN 03:07) Cite this Report

600-m vapor column

The crew of a JMSA patrol boat observed a white vapor column rising about 600 m above the summit of Tiatia on the morning of [21] July. Tiatia last erupted in 1973, after 161 years of quiet. [Increased thermal activity between 1974 and 1977 melted snow and emitted vapor plumes but produced no tephra (Markhinin, 1984).]

Further Reference. Markhinin, E.K., 1984, On the state of Kunashir Island volcanoes (March, 1974-May, 1982): Volcanology and Seismology, v. 5, no. 1, p. 45-52 (English translation); 1983, no. 1, p. 43-51 (in Russian).

Information Contacts: Reuters.

August 1978 (SEAN 03:08) Cite this Report

Explosion sound and vapor cloud

Residents of the E end of Hokkaido heard an explosion on 20 July at 1325. The explosion was not recorded by seismographs or microbarographs in E Hokkaido. Tiatia, approximately 50 km to the E, was obscured by fog. The next morning, the crew of the JMSA ship Kunasiri observed a white cloud rising 600 m from Tiatia, but heard no explosions. No ashfall was found (in Japan) on 20 or 21 July.

Information Contacts: JMA, Tokyo.

July 1981 (SEAN 06:07) Cite this Report

Vapor emission and glow

The crew of a Japanese fishing boat cruising near Kunashir Island observed "smoke" rising from Tiatia on 10 June. During the night of 24 June, an orange glare was observed in the direction of the volcano from [JMA's Nemuro Weather Station], 120 km away. No additional activity has been reported.

Information Contacts: Kyodo Radio, Tokyo.

December 1981 (SEAN 06:12) Cite this Report

Moderate fumarolic activity from the summit crater

"Aerial inspection on 20 September of the volcanoes in the S and central Kuril Islands revealed that Tiatia's summit crater was in a state of moderate fumarolic activity. No individual distinct fumaroles were observed; vapor was being released from the whole crater surface. Numerous vapor sites were also noticed on the outer slopes near the summit crater. There were no remarkable changes near the volcano summit as compared to 1977-78. A certain increase in heat activity was observed near the subordinate vent (formed in 1973) on the S slope. Heat flow measurements made in the vent in 1981 by A. Zemtsov and A. Tron yielded values of q = 7.4 and W/m² = 1.77 cal/cm²s, 1.2 times as large as in 1978. Orange glare was observed by people in Yuzhno-Kurilsk, 50 km SW of the volcano, but we are not sure that it was related to volcanic activity."

Information Contacts: G. Steinberg, Sakhalin Complex Institute.

November 1988 (SEAN 13:11) Cite this Report

Fumarolic activity

Fumarolic activity in the summit crater remained at the same level. Steaming ground was observed in many parts of the crater, but well-formed fumaroles were not evident. The intensity of steam release increases when atmospheric pressure drops and after precipitation. Tiatia's last reported activity ejected a 1-1.5-km-high white steam column in February 1982.

Information Contacts: G. Steinberg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

July 2010 (BGVN 35:07) Cite this Report

Thermal anomalies detected during February-June 2010

No eruptive or thermal activity is known on Tiatia between 1988 and the beginning of 2010, but thermal anomalies began in February 2010. During its last activity, in 1988, Tiatia displayed steaming in many parts of the crater (SEAN 13:11). The volcano, whose alternate names include Tyatya and Chacha-dake, sits near the NE margin of Kunashir Island (figures 1-3).

Figure 1. A map showing the location of Tiatia volcano very near the southern end of the Kurile island chain. For scale, NE-trending Kunashir Island is 123 km long. Tiatia and the city of Sapporo (on the NW side of Hokkaido Island, Japan) are ~ 600 km apart.

Figure 2. Two aerial views of Tiatia disclose its striking morphology. (left) View in 1973 showing the symmetrical caldera rim, which encircles an axially symmetrical inner cone with a broken top; scoria cones lie on the SE slope (mid- to foreground). (right) Viewed from the S in 2008 on a clear day. Courtesy of volcanologist Anatoly Khrenov (1973 photo) and blogger Udachnik (2008 photo).

Figure 3. An ASTER image of Tiatia taken on 29 June 2006 shows considerable snow surrounding the crater and down the caldera's flanks. Where visible, the slopes generally appear densely vegetated, except for the crater, some upslope areas, and around minor cones on the lower right and upper center. N is towards the top; the summit caldera is ~ 2 km in diameter. Courtesy of Aster Volcano Archive.

According to the Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT), thermal anomalies were detected during 2010 by satellite on 9 February, 31 May, 10 June, 19 June, and 25 June. Tiatia lacks a local seismic instrument and satellites are the primary tool used for monitoring. The satellites used in detecting these anomalies was not identified. MODVOLC thermal alerts were absent, a circumstance that could be explained by their reasonably high threshold in order to minimize the mis-identification of thermal activity.

Information Contacts: Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT), Alexander Rybin, IMGG FEB RAS, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (URL: http://www.imgg.ru/); The ASTER Volcano Archive (AVA), NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology (URL: http://ava.jpl.nasa.gov/volcano.asp); Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) Thermal Alerts System, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Univ. of Hawai'i, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA (URL: http://modis.higp.hawaii.edu/); Udachnik (URL: http://dirty.ru/comments/245960).