What to know about Russia's volcano eruption? Scientists claim Shiveluch to erupt any moment

Recent activities in the Shiveluch volcano in Russia’s far east have garnered attention. Shiveluch is situated on the Kamchatka Peninsula, which has 29 active volcanoes.

Scientists claim that Shiveluch might be getting ready for a powerful and colossal eruption, which would be the first in the past 15 years. As recorded by NASA, the last time it erupted was in 2007.

As one of Kamchatka's largest volcanic mountains, Shiveluch rises high with a summit that reaches up to 3283 meters and is also the most active among the rest. It is estimated that there have been 60 substantial eruptions in Shiveluch in the past 10,000 years.

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Shiveluch Volcano is gearing up to erupt any moment

After detecting extremely high activity in Shiveluch, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) alerted media about an impending powerful explosion.

They declared the current aviation color code as orange on their website. According to aviation color codes, orange indicates intensified turbulence in the crater that has an increasing chance of resulting in an eruption. It could also mean a volcanic explosion is on its way with little to no ash emission.

The observatory summarized the volcanic activity and said that the lava dome is growing. This process entails incandescence of the lava dome, strong activity in the fumaroles, and explosions leading to hot avalanches.

Video data from KVERT showed that a volcanic ash plume generated from the hot avalanches is headed 10 KM to the north-east part of Shiveluch.

Most of the volcanoes in the Kamchatka Peninsula are encircled with tundra and sparsely populated woodland. Hence, the eruptions pose little threat to the local inhabitants. However, ash explosions can reach up to 32,800-49,200 ft anytime which can affect low-flying aircraft and international flights.

Director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexei Ozerov, said on Sunday:

“At night, the dome glows almost over its entire surface. Hot avalanches with a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832°F) roll down the slopes, pyroclastic flows descend. This state of the dome is observed, as a rule, before a powerful paroxysmal eruption.”

The volcanoes under the Kamchatka Peninsula are part of an expansive girdle of earth called the Ring of Fire. This string of volcanoes sits along the Pacific Rim, making the entire region prone to volcanic eruptions and frequent earthquakes.

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Tonga volcanic eruption's impact on the Pacific seafloor

Earlier in January 2022, another powerful eruption took place in the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano. Reports say the blast was unbelievably loud and was even heard nearly 6000 miles away in Alaska.

The Tonga eruption was stated to be the largest one any modern equipment has ever recorded.

Scientists from the UK and New Zealand shared their new findings from a detailed mapping of the affected area around the Pacific rim. The report shows that the eruption abraded the seafloor, spreading displaced water debris to a distance of around 80 km, which reshaped the seabed.

The ash and water vapor from this explosion hiked up to 57 km into the sky. This eruption caused a devastating tsunami in Alaska. The blast was said to be a hundred times stronger than the nuclear explosion in Hiroshima.