Shiveluch (also spelled Sheveluch) is one of the largest and most active volcanoes on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. It has been spewing ash and steam intermittently during the past decade, in addition to the occasional occurrence of dome collapses, pyroclastic flows, and lava flows.
On May 17, 2017, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image showing lines of ash-covered snow extending south and east of the volcano. The Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) reported that ash from the most recent eruption was moving east at an altitude of 7 kilometers (4 miles).
You can learn more about the volcanoes of Kamchatka and see an image of five of them erupting at once here.
References & Resources
- Global Volcanism Program Sheveluch. Accessed May 17, 2017.
- KVERT (2017, May 16) Volcano Observatory Notification to Aviation. Accessed May 17, 2017.
- NASA Earth Observatory Activity at Shiveluch.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.












