The Kamchatka Peninsula is one of the richest volcanoes on earth, perhaps second only to Iceland and Hawaii. In this area of the Pacific Ocean, the so-called "ring of fire", there are more than a hundred active volcanoes and about 30 of them have woken up only recently.
The volcanoes of Kamchatka, today recognized as active, form a 700-kilometer volcanic belt from the Shiveluch volcano, which is located in the north of the peninsula, to the Kambalny volcano in the south. Vigorous volcanism in Kamchatka, as well as in the neighboring Aleutian and Kuril island arcs, is due to the subduction of the Pacific plate under the Eurasian tectonic plate.
Over the past few thousand years, there have been about 30 very large (Plinian) eruptions, as a result of which approximately 1 km3 of magma was thrown out. According to these data, today Kamchatka is the place on earth with the highest frequency of large explosive eruptions.
The most active volcanoes in Kamchatka are Klyuchevskoy, Karymsky, Shiveluch and Bezymyanny.
Kamchatka's Klyuchevskoy Volcano - the largest active volcano in Eurasia - rises to 4750 m above sea level. He has a perfect, extraordinarily beautiful cone. Age of thisvolcano is about eight thousand years old. The first eruption was noted in 1697. Today, the Klyuchevskoy volcano in Kamchatka attracts many tourists who want to take a close look at one of the most beautiful volcanoes in the world. On average, eruptions occurred every 5 years, sometimes annually, and it happened that they continuously lasted several years. The most powerful of them occurred in 1944-1945. The activity of Klyuchevskoy is also characterized by "parasitic" craters located 8-25 km from the main one.
The Shiveluch Volcano in Kamchatka is one of the most active and largest volcanoes and has the strongest eruptions. It is located 80 km from Klyuchevskoy. About 60 major eruptions have occurred on Shiveluch over the past few thousand years, the most catastrophic of them dating back to 1854 and 1956, when most of the lava dome collapsed, resulting in devastating debris avalanches. This Kamchatka volcano belongs to the Klyuchevskaya group of volcanoes and is about 65 thousand years old.
Karymsky Volcano - relatively low (1486 m) and young (6100 years) - the most active. More than 20 eruptions have occurred in this century alone, and the last of them began in 1996 and lasted 2 years. Eruptions of Karymsky are accompanied by bursts and ejections of ash from the central crater with erupting lava. The lava erupted by the Karymsky volcano in Kamchatka is so sticky that, as a rule, flaming streams do not always reach the foot. The last eruption coincided with an underwater eruption of Lake Karymskoye, located in8 kilometers. It lasted for only 20 hours, but in this short time there were about 100 underwater splashes, each of which was accompanied by tsunami waves reaching 15 m in height. As a result of the eruption of the volcano, Lake Karymskoe, the water in which was very fresh and clean, turned into the largest natural reservoir with the most acidic water in the world.
Kamchatka Bezymyanny Volcano is located on the southeastern slope of the extinct Kamen volcano. Traces of lava flows can be found on the upper part of its slopes. It is a small and young volcano (4700 years old), which was formed on top of a larger ancient volcano. In the mid-50s, it erupted, after which a large horseshoe-shaped crater formed. Since then Bezymyanny has been recognized as one of the most active volcanoes in Kamchatka. A new lava dome grows inside the crater, often resulting in explosive activity and pyroclastic flows. Since 2011, the volcanic dome has almost filled the crater.
