******************************************************************** ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY Information Release Wednesday, August 15, 2007 9:30 AM AKDT (1730 UTC) ******************************************************************** PAVLOF VOLCANO (CAVW#1102-03-) 55°24\'57\" N161°53\'24\" W, Summit Elevation 8261 ft (2518 m) Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE Current Volcano Alert Level: Watch Previous Aviation Color Code: YELLOW Previous Volcano Alert Level: Advisory AVO is raising the aviation color code for Pavlof Volcano from Yellow to ORANGE and the Alert Level from Advisory to WATCH. AVO detected a strong thermal anomaly at the volcano overnight. Seismic activity continues to increase in both number of events per hour and duration of individual events. These observations fit the pattern of activity prior to previous eruptions and we now expect an eruption similiar to those in 1996, 1986, 1981, and 1983 to occur in the next day to weeks. The last eruption of Pavlof began in September, 1996 and was first reported by observers in Cold Bay. A several-month-long series of ash explosions, lava-fountaining, and lava-flow production ensued. Ash clouds reached as high as 30,000 ft ASL on one occasion, however, most ash clouds were below 20,000 ft ASL. Prior to 1996, Pavlof erupted in 1986 sending ash as high as 49,000 ft ASL on at least one occasion. A hazard assessment for Pavlof and the Emmons Lake volcanic center is available on the web at http://www.avo.alaska.edu/pdfs/SIR2006-5248.pdf AVO will be increasing its monitoring frequency for Pavlof while at this heightened level of unrest. Pavlof volcano is located on the southwestern end of the Alaska Peninsula about 590 miles southwest of Anchorage. The community of Cold Bay is located 37 miles to the southwest of Pavlof. Pavlof is a steep-sided, symmetrical, 8261-ft-high stratovolcano. With almost 40 historic eruptions, it is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc. Eruptive activity is generally characterized by sporadic lava fountaining continuing for a several-month period. Additional hazards in the vicinity of the volcano included light ash fall on nearby communities, mudflows, lava flows and avalanching of hot debris on the flanks of the volcano. For more information on Pavlof and potential volcano hazards, please see our web site: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=Pavlof VOLCANO ALERT LEVELS: NORMAL Typical background activity of a volcano in a non-eruptive state ADVISORY Elevated unrest above known background activity WATCH Volcano is exhibiting heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential for eruptive activity WARNING Highly hazardous eruption underway or imminent ABBREVIATED AVIATION COLOR CODE KEY: GREEN volcano is dormant; normal seismicity and fumarolic activity occurring YELLOW volcano is restless; eruption may occur ORANGE volcano is in eruption or eruption may occur at any time RED significant eruption is occurring or explosive eruption expected at any time Please see http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/2006/vhpalertlevel.pdf for a complete description of alert levels and color codes. VOLCANO INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET: http://www.avo.alaska.edu RECORDING ON THE STATUS OF ALASKA\'S VOLCANOES (907) 786-7478 CONTACT INFORMATION: Tom Murray Scientist-in-Charge, USGS tlmurray@xxxxxxxx (907) 786-7497 Steve McNutt, Coordinating Scientist, UAF steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (907) 474-7131 The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. ============================================================== To unsubscribe from the volcano list, send the message: signoff volcano to: listserv@xxxxxxx, or write to: volcano-request@xxxxxxxx To contribute to the volcano list, send your message to: volcano@xxxxxxxx Please do not send attachments. ==============================================================
