Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the largest volcano on the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka, and Shiveluch, a neighboring volcano, are becoming active again. According to news reports, Klyuchevskaya is sending ash to a height of 50 meters. The 15,863-foot tall volcano is the region’s most active. Its most recent eruption ended in January of 2003.
Shiveluch erupted on January 11, 2004, sending volcanic ash to a height of 1.5 kilometers, and rock and melted snow down the mountainside. At a height of 10,771 feet, Shiveluch is one of the region’s largest and most active volcanoes. Its last eruption, which lasted for two years, ended late last year. Neither volcano is endangering local towns.
The ash plumes from both volcanoes are faintly visible in the true-color image (top). Brown ash dusts the snow around Shiveluch. Klyuchevskaya, below Shiveluch and to the left, has a thin, barely-visible plume of ash flowing east from its top.
The false-color image (lower) shows the plumes more clearly. Snow and ice appear blue, while the smoke plumes are slightly pink and ash is yellow. The eruption site on summit of Klyuchevskaya is visible as a tiny red dot. The images were acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite on January 12, 2004.
Images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC