KVERT reported that seismic activity at Shiveluch was above background levels during 30 January-6 February. Based on interpretations of seismic data, ash plumes likely rose to altitudes of 5.3 km (17,400 ft) a.s.l. Lava flows continued to be active on the S and N flanks. Weak gas-and-steam activity was noted on 30 January and 1 February. Analysis of satellite imagery revealed a large thermal anomaly on the lava dome during 30 January-2 February, and on 5 February. The Level of Concern Color Code remained at Orange.

Based on information from KEMSD, the Tokyo VAAC reported that an eruption on 7 February produced a plume that rose to an altitude of 4.9 km (16,000 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: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)