The ongoing eruption at Koryaksky (along with 5 other volcanoes in Kamchatka!)

Koryaksky (Koryak) in Russia

Yesterday in the USGS/SI update, I mentioned the current eruption going on at Koryaksky (a.k.a. Koryak). Today, the NASA Earth Observatory has some images of the plume from the Russian volcano heading out to the east over the Peninsula. The plume itself looks fairly diffuse and mostly whitish steam rather than laden with grey/brown ash. The last significant eruption from Koryaksky was a VEI 3 eruption in 1956-57 that produced ash fall and pyroclastic flows from the volcano.

One thing that is noted on the EO page is this snippet:

MODIS captured this plume days after reports of simultaneous activity at six Kamchatka volcanoes. Vostok Media described the simultaneous activity as rare, stating it was the first time that all six volcanoes showed concurrent unrest in 60 years.

Apparently it has been sixty years since six different volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula were "erupting simultaneously". Right now, Shiveluch, Koryaksky, Bezymianny, Kliuchevskoi, Karymsky and Gorely (which was news to me) are all actively producing plumes and/or erupting. Throw in Sarychev Peak in the Kuril Islands, and you have a busy time in the far western Pacific arcs. Remember, the volcanoes might be located in a fairly remote and unpopulated area of Russia, but many flights from North America to the Far East/Asia come up over Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands, so any eruption can pose a serious threat to aviation.