English: On October 4, 2016, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite flew over Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and acquired a true-color image of ash plumes from an active eruption of the massive volcano. Although the volcano is covered by cloud, the ash rising in the northwest section of the image pinpoints its location. The gray ash is thickest near its origin and thins as it is blown by the wind to the southeast.

Shiveluch is one of the largest and most active volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Rising to 3,283 meters (10,771 feet) above sea level, Shiveluch is a stratovolcano composed of alternating layers of hardened lava, compacted ash, and rocks ejected by previous eruptions. The typical eruptive style of the volcano is highly explosive, often forming domes of lava and shooting lava and ash high into the air.

According to Volcano Discovery, a major partial dome collapse occurred on September 19 (local time), removing a large part of the southwestern flank of the active dome and excavating a deep gully. The lava flow that resulted from this eruption extended more than 10 km (6 miles). Since that time ash eruptions have continued intermittently.

On September 30 the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) advised that a new eruption may be occurring at Shiveluch. On October 5 KVERT advised that explosions at the volcano had sent ash up to 4.5 km (2.8 mi) above sea level as explosive-extrusive eruption continued. They also reported that ash explosions up to 32,800 ft. (10 km) could occur at any time, and warned that ongoing activity could affect international and low-flying aircraft.