Shiveluch has second large eruption in this month

Shiveluch volano in Russia.

Just like last summer seemed like a busy time for the Aleutians (Cleveland, Okmok and Kasatochi), this summer could be dubbed the “summer of Kamchatka-Kurils” (alright, it isn’t that catchy, sorry). The biggest news was/is, of course, the sizeable eruption from Sarychev Peak in the Kuril Islands, but not to be outdone, Shiveluch on the Kamchatka Peninsula has starting playing catchup.

KVERT is reporting that Shiveluch produced a 7 km / 23,000 foot ash column on Monday, with increased seismicity to go along with the explosions. These explosions are generating the ash column, along with avalanches (like dome collapse pyroclastic flows). This is at least the second time in June that Shiveluch has had a large eruption. All of the activity is part of the current dome growth sequence at Shiveluch (similar to what is going on at Redoubt) and KVERT warns “Ash explosions >10 km (>32,800 ft) ASL could occur at any time”, which seems to nail this current eruption. The area near this northernmost Kamchatkan volcano is sparsely populated so likely the ash column could only snarl air traffic heading over the region. Hopefully by this time next year, we will have a live webcam view of this type of activity at Shiveluch!