Eruption at Sheveluch volcano, ash column up to 8 km (27 000 feet) a.s.l., Russia

A notable eruption took place at Sheveluch volcano, Russia at 20:52 UTC on June 19, 2022, ejecting ash up to 8.2 km (27 000 feet) above sea level, according to the Tokyo VAAC.  The Aviation Color Code remains at Orange (2/4).

Meanwhile, growth of the lava dome at the volcano continues, accompanied by strong fumarolic activity, the incandescence of the lava dome, explosions, and hot avalanches.¹

Ash explosions up to 10 – 15 km (32 800-49 200 ft) a.s.l. could occur at any time, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) said. Ongoing activity could affect international and low-flying aircraft.

The video below was recorded from the village of Klyuchi (~ 44 km / 27 miles SW of the volcano).

Video courtesy FRC EGS RAS

Geological summary

The high, isolated massif of Sheveluch volcano (also spelled Shiveluch) rises above the lowlands NNE of the Kliuchevskaya volcano group.

The 1 300 km³ (311.9 mi³) volcano is one of Kamchatka’s largest and most active volcanic structures.

The summit of roughly 65 000-year-old Stary Shiveluch is truncated by a broad 9-km-wide (5.6 miles) late-Pleistocene caldera breached to the south. Many lava domes dot its outer flanks. 

The Molodoy Shiveluch lava-dome complex was constructed during the Holocene within the large horseshoe-shaped caldera; Holocene lava dome extrusion also took place on the flanks of Stary Shiveluch.

At least 60 large eruptions have occurred during the Holocene, making it the most vigorous andesitic volcano of the Kuril-Kamchatka arc.

Widespread tephra layers from these eruptions have provided valuable time markers for dating volcanic events in Kamchatka.

Frequent collapses of dome complexes, most recently in 1964, have produced debris avalanches whose deposits cover much of the floor of the breached caldera.2

References:

¹ KVERT VONA issued 21:52 UTC on June 19, 2022

² Sheveluch – Geological summary – GVP

Featuerd image credit: FRC EGS RAS