R

The Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet 064-02

2002

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY—REDUCING THE RISK FROM VOLCANO HAZARDS

ussia’s Kamchatka Peninsula 

is home to 29 active volcanoes, 

Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, across the 

Bering Sea from Alaska, has 29 active volcanoes. Although only a few of these pose a direct threat to the peninsula’s sparse population, 

an eruption from any of them can be a serious 

threat to aviation throughout the entire North 

Pacific region. In a typical year, 3 or 4 explosive eruptions in Kamchatka send tiny jagged 

particles of rock and glass (volcanic ash) high 

into the atmosphere and across heavily traveled international air routes between Asia and 

North America.

Volcanic ash is extremely hazardous to flying jet aircraft. Encounters with ash clouds can 

cause jet engines to fail suddenly, because ash 

can erode compressor blades and melt and solidify onto moving parts. Ash clouds can drift 

with prevailing winds for many days and thousands of miles and still be a hazard to aircraft. 

Worldwide, more than 100 jet aircraft in the past 

20 years have inadvertently entered ash clouds, 

causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Although no fatal incidents have yet occurred, many encounters have been close calls. 

The threat of volcanic ash to aircraft can 

be reduced through warnings of eruptions, 

timely detection and tracking of ash clouds, 

and effective communication of the hazard 

to authorities and the aviation community. In 

1993, recognizing the need for rapid detecincluding 7 snow-capped stratocones more than 10,000 ft (3,000 m) 

high. Several eruptions each year 

in Kamchatka produce ash clouds 

that threaten the safety of air travel 

across the North Pacific, including 

travel between the United States and 

Russia and Japan. The Kamchatkan 

Volcanic Eruption Response Team 

(KVERT), created in 1993 through a 

cooperative effort of Russian and 

U.S. scientists, monitors the volcanoes of Kamchatka to provide warnings and rapid reporting of eruptions.

tion of volcanic eruptions occurring in the 

northwest Pacific, scientists with the Russian 

Academy of Sciences Institute of Volcanic 

Geology and Geochemistry (IVGG) and the 

Kamchatkan Experimental and Methodical 

Seismological Department (KEMSD) created 

the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response 

Team (KVERT). This was done in close collaboration with the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a cooperative effort of the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS), University of 

Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and 

Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. Funding for KVERT and its staff 

of about a dozen full- and part-time scientists 

has been provided by several organizations, 

In October 1994, Klyuchevskoy Volcano in northern Kamchatka erupted explosively, sending a column of 

volcanic ash more than 9 miles (15 km) into the air. This photograph taken from a space shuttle shows 

the ash cloud as high winds blow it southeastward over the North Pacific Ocean. The cloud crossed busy 

air routes in both Russian and U.S. airspace. Warnings from the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response 

Team (KVERT) were crucial to enabling the safe rerouting of North Pacific air traffic until the threat subsided. (Photograph courtesy of NASA.)

An AVHRR satellite image of the ash cloud 

from the October 1, 1994, eruption of 

Klyuchevskoy Volcano is shown here superimposed on a simplified map of North 

Pacific air routes. Each day, aircraft flying 

along these routes, some of the busiest in 

the world, carry more than 20,000 passengers and cargo worth millions of dollars 

to and from Asia, North America, and Europe. (Satellite image processed by David 

Schneider, Alaska Volcano Observatory.) 

Satellite images are a powerful tool used 

to detect volcanic eruptions and track the 

movements of ash clouds. In cooperation 

with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, 

KVERT examines data from Japanese and 

U.S. meteorological satellites to detect 

and monitor the eruptive activity of Kamchatkan and some Kurile Island volcanoes. Several times a day, images 

from GMS (Geostationary Meteorological Satellite), GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites), 

and polar-orbiting satellites carrying AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) are scrutinized for 

evidence of ash or thermal anomalies that might indicate volcanic activity. 
including the International Air Transport Association, U.S. Agency for International Development, USGS, and the Russian State Unitary 

Enterprise Kamchatkaeronavigatziya.

The most effective method of detecting unrest 

at volcanoes is seismic (earthquake) monitoring. As of 2002, 27 remote seismic monitoring 

stations are operating at 9 of the most active volcanoes in Kamchatka and at Alaid Volcano, on 

Paramushir Island in the northern Kurile Islands. 

Direct visual observations are also important 

in confirming volcanic eruptions and making 

hazard assessments. They allow scientists to 

calibrate seismic data in order to remotely interpret volcanic activity. KVERT scientists have 

developed methods of estimating eruption plume 

height from the intensity of seismicity. This is an 

important tool in Kamchatka, where many volcanoes are remote and frequently obscured by 

clouds. Analysis of satellite imagery is another 

powerful technique used to detect volcanic eruptions and track the movements of ash clouds.

KVERT provides frequent status reports 

and notices of volcanic activity in Kamchatka, 

by telephone and over the Internet, to local 

authorities and through them and AVO to the 

international community. The level of hazard at 

Kamchatkan volcanoes is communicated using 

a four-color code similar to that developed by 

AVO for Alaskan volcanoes. When eruptive activity is observed, KVERT uses an emergency 

call-down procedure to notify the Airport Meteorological Center (AMC) at Yelizovo Airport 

in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the Kamchatka 

Department of Civil Emergency, AVO, and local media and officials. The Yelizovo Airport 

AMC is responsible for then notifying the 

Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, which in 

turn issues Volcanic Ash Advisory Statements 

to the aviation community.

A written description of each eruption is also 

sent from KVERT to AVO, which then distributes it to more than 200 users by phone, fax, and 

the Internet. If KVERT reports an eruption with 

potential impacts to U.S. airspace, AVO directly 

notifies the National Weather Service, the Federal 

Aviation Administration, and other U.S. agencies.

A volcano crisis that demonstrated KVERT’s 

value was the 1994 eruption of Klyuchevskoy 

Volcano in northern Kamchatka. On October 

1st, after 3 weeks of low-level eruptive activity 

tracked and reported by KVERT, an explosive 

eruption blasted an ash column to a height of 

more than 49,000 ft (15 km). Winds of 150 mph 

(240 km/h) blew the ash cloud southeastward 

more than 620 mi (1,000 km) over the Pacific 

Ocean at altitudes of 31,000 to 38,000 ft (9,500 

to 11,500 m), sweeping it across vital air routes 

in both Russian and U.S. airspace. Within 2 

hours of the climactic eruption and of a subseVladimir Yu. Kirianov, Christina A. Neal, 

Evgenii I. Gordeev, and Thomas P. Miller

Edited by

James W. Hendley II and Peter Stauffer

Graphic design by

Susan Mayfield and Sara Boore

Banner design by Bobbie Myers

COOPERATING ORGANIZATIONS

Airline Pilots Association

Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

Federal Aviation Administration

Geophysical Institute University of Alaska Fairbanks

Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences

International Air Transport Association

International Civil Aviation Organization

Kamchatkan Experimental and Methodical Seismological Department, Geophysical Service, Russian Academy of Sciences

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National 

Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service/

Satellite Services Division

National Weather Service/Anchorage Volcanic Ash Advisory Center

State Unitary Enterprise Kamchatkaeronavigatziya

Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, Japan Meteorological Agency

U.S. Agency for International Development

Yelizovo Airport Meteorological Center

For more information contact:

Alaska Volcano Observatory (907) 786-7497

4200 University Drive

Anchorage, AK 99508

http://www.avo.alaska.edu

or

http://www.kcs.iks.ru/ivgig

http://data.emsd.iks.ru/video/video.htm

http://emsd.iks.ru/~ssl/

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/

See also Volcanic Ash—Danger to Aircraft in the North Pacific

(USGS Fact Sheet 030-97) and Volcanic Ash Fall—A “Hard Rain” 

of Abrasive Particles (USGS Fact Sheet 027-00)

quent series of ash explosions, KVERT and AVO 

had notified aviation authorities and air carriers. 

These warnings, along with guidance from the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on expected movement of ash 

clouds, enabled dispatchers and air-traffic controllers to safely reroute North Pacific air traffic 

until the threat subsided.

Since KVERT issued its first information 

release on the status of Kamchatkan volcanoes, 

in March 1993, more than 500 information releases and dozens of eruption notifications have 

been distributed to passenger and cargo airlines, 

emergency management agencies in the U.S. 

and Russia, the media, and scientists around the 

world. KVERT’s prompt and reliable reporting 

has helped ensure that aircraft can safely and efficiently avoid dangerous ash clouds.

In coming decades, air traffic in the North 

Pacific is projected to increase steadily. The risk 

of costly, damaging, and possibly deadly encounters of aircraft with volcanic ash clouds will 

rise accordingly, underscoring the importance of 

KVERT operations to the safety of air travel in 

this volcanically active region. To meet this challenge, KVERT and its partners, including USGS, 

are working to expand monitoring and warning 

capacity by adding more seismic networks and 

video systems and by enhancing satellite analysis 

for Kamchatka and the adjacent Kurile Islands.

MUTNOVSKY (1960-61)

SHEVELUCH

(2002)

KLYUCHEVSKOY (2000)

BEZYMIANNY (2001)

PLOSKY TOLBACHIK (1975-76)

KORYAKSKY (1956-57)

AVACHINSKY (1991)

GORELY (1986)

ALAID 

(1981)

KARYMSKY (2002)

Atlasova 

Island

Paramushir

Island

K A M C H AT K A

P E N I N S U L A

YELIZOVO

AIRPORT*

50°N

54°N

58°N 

155°E 160°E 164°E

Klyuchi

Kozyrevsk

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Sobolevo

Ozernovsky

Severo-Kurilsk

UstKamchatsk

Ust- Bolsheretsk

Sea of 

Okhotsk

Nerpichye 

Lake

Kurilskoye 

Lake

Avacha R.

Zhupanova R.

Kamchatka River

Khayryuzova R.

Ozernaya R.

Tigil R.

Bystraya R.

Kronotskoye 

Lake

PACIFIC

OCEAN

0 150 KILOMETERS

Active volcano

Seismically monitored 

volcano (year of last 

eruption)

The Kamchatka Peninsula has 29 active 

volcanoes, several of them near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 200,000 people, 

where KVERT is based. The most effective 

method of detecting unrest at volcanoes is 

seismic (earthquake) monitoring. As of 2002, 

27 remote seismic monitoring stations (see 

inset) are operating at 9 of the most active 

volcanoes in Kamchatka and at Alaid Volcano on Atlasova Island in the northern

Kurile Islands. Data are transmitted from 

the stations to three recording centers in 

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Klyuchi, and 

Kozyrevsk. Internet connectivity among 

these centers allows KVERT scientists to 

rapidly analyze data and issue notifications 

of volcanic unrest at the monitored volcanoes. Direct visual observations are also 

important in confirming volcanic eruptions 

and making hazard assessments. For Kamchatkan volcanoes not visible from KVERT 

headquarters, visual reports are received 

from technical observers in Klyuchi 

and Kozyrevsk by telephone, radio, and 

e-mail. In 2000, a video-camera system 

was installed in Klyuchi, which, weather 

permitting, makes real-time images of 

Klyuchevskoy Volcano available on the 

Internet (http://data.emsd.iks.ru/video/

video.htm). A similar system was installed in May 2002 for Sheveluch Volcano, and additonal systems are planned 

for other Kamchatkan volcanoes. (Photo 

courtesy of Yury Demyanchuk, Kamchatkan Experimental and Methodical 

Seismological Department.)

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