About Shiveluch Volcano:
- It is located around 280 miles from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a coastal city that lies in Russia’s eastern region of Kamchatka.
- It is a stratovolcano—a steep-sloped volcano composed of alternating layers of solidified ash, hardened lava, and volcanic rocks.
- One of Kamchatka’s largest volcanoes, it sports a summit reaching 3,283 meters (10,771 feet).
- Many lava domes dot its outer flanks.
- Shiveluch is also one of the peninsula’s most active volcanoes, with an estimated 60 substantial eruptions in the past 10,000 years.
- The volcano has been continuously erupting since August 1999, but occasionally undergoes powerful explosive events, including in 2007.
Key facts about Kamchatka Peninsula:
- It lies in far eastern Russia, between the Sea of Okhotsk on the west and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea on the east.
- It is one of the world’s most concentrated areas of geothermal activity, with about 30 active volcanoes.
- It is about 1,200 km long north-south and about 480 km across at its widest.
- Area: Approximately 370,000 square km.
- About the size of New Zealand, it is one of the largest peninsulas in the world.
- Climate: Severe, with prolonged, cold, and snowy winters and wet, cool summers.
- Regional Capital: Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
- The Kuril Island chain runs from the southern tip of the peninsula to a short distance from Japan's northern Hokkaido Island.
