Paramushir

Paramushir (Paramushir, Paramushiru-tō, パラムシㇼ) is a volcanic island in the northern portion of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It is separated from Shumshu by the very narrow Second Kuril Strait in the northeast , from Antsiferov by the Luzhin Strait () to the southwest, from Atlasov in the northwest by , and from Onekotan in the south by the wide Fourth Kuril Strait. Its northern tip is from Cape Lopatka at the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its name is derived from the Ainu language, from “broad island” or “populous island”. Severo-Kurilsk, the administrative center of the Severo-Kurilsky district, is the only permanently populated settlement on Paramushir island. Paramushir is roughly rectangular and is the second largest of the Kuril Islands with an area of . Geologically, Paramushir is a continuous chain of 23 volcanoes. At least five of them are active, and exceed : Chikurachki, ( влк.Чикурачки, 千倉岳; Chikura-dake) with a height of is the highest peak on Paramushir and the third highest in the Kuril Islands. It has erupted in 1690, 1853, 1859, 1933 and several times between 1957–2008. During the most recent eruption in August 2008, the volcanic ash reached the town of Severo-Kurilsk located north-east. The previous eruption took place on March 4, 2007, when a high plume of ash was emitted that trailed for several hundred kilometers into the neighboring waters. Fuss Peak, ( влк.Фусса, 後鏃岳; Shiriyajiri-dake) with a height of is a conical stratovolcano. It has erupted in 1742, 1854 and 1934. Lomonosov Group, ( влк.Ломоносова, 冠岳; Kanmuridake) with a height of is part of the Chikurachki group. Karpinsky Group, ( влк.Карпинского, 白煙山; Shirokemuri-yama) with a height of has erupted in 1957. Ebeko, ( влк.Эбеко, 千島硫黄山; Chishima Iōyama) with a height of has erupted numerous times, most recently in 1990. The central crater of Ebeko is filled by a caldera lake about deep. Paramushir has a sub-arctic climate strongly modulated by the cooling effects of the North Pacific Oyashio Current.