36 of Kuriles’ 68 Volcanic Centers Active Recently!

KURILE ISLAND VOLCANOES AND THE THREAT TO AVIATION

The remote Kurile Islands of the northwest Pacific stretch 1250 km (740 mi) from the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula to northern Hokkaido, Japan. The Kuriles include 68 identified volcanic centers above sea level. Among them, 36 have been active in recent times and many are capable of producing sudden ash clouds that rise more than 15 km (50,000 ft) above sea level.

Some of the world’s most heavily traveled air corridors pass within a few hundred km of Kurile volcanoes. Daily, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 people fly on these routes. Ash clouds can rise more than 1 km (3,300 ft) per minute, putting dozens of en route wide-body jets rapidly in harm’s way on a typical day in the North Pacific. Ash clouds travel with prevailing winds across hundreds or thousands of kilometers of airspace within a day. Inadvertent entry into an ash cloud can severely damage aircraft systems and, in the worst case, lead to complete engine failure. Ash fallout can also curtail ground operations at airports. (

(Excerpts and Image: KURILE VOLCANOES AND THE SAKHALIN VOLCANIC ERUPTION RESPONSE TEAM (SVERT)- AVO).

Related Links:

• Quick reference to the Active Volcanoes of the Kurile Islands: English (800 KB PDF)

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