The volcano Shiveluchin the Russian peninsula of Kamchatkakicked off a new and impressive eruptive phase. Images that are starting to circulate online show a high column of smoke which – according to initial estimates – seems to have reached i Approximately 9100 meters and was then blown by the winds towards North. The eruption began on January 28th at hours 5pm around (local time), was accompanied by seismic events and volcanic tremor. There Director of the Geophysical Service of the Far Eastern Section of the Russian Academy of Sciences declared, however, that “There are no particular concerns” regarding the ash column. He further added that:
Shiveluch erupts constantly, practically never calms down. It features little episodic releases like these, and that’s about it. Most of the time, its eruptions are short-lived. Given that it erupted quite violently recently, we probably shouldn’t expect a repeat like that, but that’s nature. Normal, moderate ashfall is possible, but nothing comparable to 2023.
The eruption to which the Director refers is that of April 12, 2023. On that occasion there was a particularly intense volcanic explosion and the volcanic ash produced covered entire population centers with a thick gray blanket thick up to 10 centimetres.
From a geological point of view it is one stratovolcano and, more specifically, it is the most active of the entire Kamchatka peninsula – so much so that during the Holocene it gave rise to at least 60 major eruptions.
