Latest news from Avachinsky volcano
Monday, May 19, 2008
Avachinsky volcano (Kamchatka), activity news: ash emissions
Avachinsky volcano is getting active, producing ash eruptions. An ash plume was observed rising to an altitude of 4.3 km (14,000ft) a.s.l. on 10 May.  
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Avachinsky volcano

Volcano type stratovolcano
Location Eastern Kamchatka, 53.255°N / 158.830°E
Summit elevation 2741 m (8,993 ft)
Last eruptions 1737 (produced tsunami), 1772, 1779, 1789, 1827, 1828, 1837, 1851, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1878, 1881, 1894-95, 1901, 1909, 1926-27, 1938, 1945, 1991, 2001, 2008 (ongoing)
Typical eruption style Explosive

Background

Avachinsky towering above  Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka's largest city, is one of Kamchatka's most active volcanoes. It typically erupts every few years to decades, often producing ash flows and lahars.  Avachinsky began to form during the middle or late Pleistocene and is flanked to the SE by the parasitic volcano Kozelsky, which has a large crater breached to the NE. Avachinsky has a large horseshoe-shaped caldera, breached to the SW, that was formed when a major debris avalanche about 30,000-40,000 years ago buried an area of about 500 sq km to the south underlying the city of Petropavlovsk. Reconstruction of the volcano took place in two stages, the first of which began about 18,000 years before present (BP), and the second 7000 years BP. Most eruptive products have been explosive, with pyroclastic flows and hot lahars being directed primarily to the SW by the breached caldera, although relatively short lava flows have been emitted. The frequent historical eruptions of Avachinsky have been similar in style and magnitude to previous Holocene eruptions.