KVERT reported that seismic activity at Shiveluch was above background levels during 10-17 October. Based on interpretations of seismic data, a large number of hot avalanches descended the lava dome and produced ash plumes that rose to an altitude of 6 km (19,700 ft) a.s.l. Significant hot avalanches were seen on 13 October. Analysis of satellite imagery revealed a thermal anomaly on the lava dome during 10-11 and 13-14 October, and steam-and-ash plumes with a small amount of ash that drifted 30 km NE on 14 October. Fumarolic activity was visible on the web camera during 10-13 and 16-17 October. The Level of Concern Color Code remained at Orange.

Based on information from KEMSD and analysis of satellite imagery, the Tokyo VAAC reported that during 18-20 October eruption plumes rose to altitudes of 4.9-6.7 km (16,000-22,000 ft) a.s.l.

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 andesitic volcano is one of Kamchatka's largest and most active volcanic structures, with at least 60 large eruptions during the Holocene. The summit of roughly 65,000-year-old Stary Shiveluch is truncated by a broad 9-km-wide late-Pleistocene caldera breached to the south. Many lava domes occur on its outer flanks. The Molodoy Shiveluch lava dome complex was constructed during the Holocene within the large open caldera; Holocene lava dome extrusion also took place on the flanks of Stary Shiveluch. 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.

Sources: Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)