Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Shiveluch volcano, also known as Shiveluch, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and the northernmost active volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. It displays frequent activity—including thermal anomalies, hot avalanches, debris flows, and ash deposits—that darken the snow-covered landscape inside its horseshoe-shaped caldera.
Satellite images captured by Landsat 9 on April 23, 2026, show a dark multi-lobed lava dome actively growing within the caldera. This lava dome extrudes slowly, forming lobed shapes and regularly cycling through phases of growth and collapse. These collapses often trigger explosive ash bursts and generate pyroclastic flows of hot ash and soil that move down avalanche chutes and lahar channels from the caldera.
Block-and-ash flows from these collapses include coarse blocks of cooled volcanic rock mixed with finer ash and soil. The resulting deposits can retain heat for extended periods, causing snowmelt even during winter. Satellite observations have frequently detected thermal activity, with warm surfaces noted along volcanic debris channels.
On the day the image was taken, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) reported ongoing explosive-extrusive eruptions marked by strong gas-steam emissions. A major eruption and flank collapse in April 2023 also produced pyroclastic flows that devastated surrounding forests and left extensive deposits still visible today. Geologists note that these deposits may still retain heat from that event.