Large scale landslides on active volcanoes in the 20th century - Examples from the Kurile-Kamchatka region (Russia)

Abstract

In the 20th century, large scale landslides occurred at 3 active volcanoes of the Kurile-Kamchatka region: Harimkotan (in 1933, volume 0.4 km3), Bezymianny (in 1956, volume 0.5 km3) and Shiveluch (in 1964, volume 1.5 km3). In all cases the landslides were provoked by intrusion of new batches of magma related to forthcoming eruptions. As a result of the landslides, lithostatic pressure on magmatic systems of the volcanoes was quickly reduced,, resulting in strong explosive eruptions.