Volcano Live

Kurile Islands, Russia

48.292 N, 153.25 E
summit elevation 551 m
stratovolcano

Raikoke Volcano is located in the Kurile Islands. The volcano forms a 2 x 2.5 km wide island. A large eruption occurred in 1778.

Raikoke volcano is located in the Greater Kuril Chain which extends 1200 km from the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) to Hokkaido Island (Japan).

Raikoke represents the upper subaerial part of the volcano, with a base of 2.7 × 2.6 km and consists of a 551 m high cone and a summit crater 0.7 × 0.6 km in diameter.

2019 eruption
The eruption of Raikoke volcano, from June 21–25 (2019) was one of the largest on the Kuril Islands in the 21st century. The eruption began on 21 June 2019, with explosions and ash columns up to 10 km altitude. The paroxysmal phase of the eruption occurred on the evening of June 21, when a Plinian column of ash reached 13 km altitude. The eruption increased the land area of the island by 0.7 sq km. The large eruption was precipitated by interaction of subsurface water and magma.

Further reading
Smirnov, S. Z., et al. "High explosivity of the June 21, 2019 eruption of Raikoke volcano (Central Kuril Islands); mineralogical and petrological constraints on the pyroclastic materials." Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 418 (2021): 107346.

A.V. Degtyarev, M.V. Chibisova. The eruption of Raikokevolcano in June of 2019 (Raikoke Island, Central Kuril Islands) Geosyst. Transit. Zo., 3 (2019), pp. 304-309.

P.P. Firstov, O.E. Popov, M.A. Lobacheva, I.D. Budilov, R.R. Akbashev. Wave perturbations in the atmosphere accompanying the eruption of the Raykoke volcano (Kuril Islands) 21–22 June, 2019 Geosyst. Transit. Zo., 4 (2020), pp. 71-81.

V.A. Rashidov, O.A. Girina, A.Y. Ozerov, N.N. Pavlov The june 2019 eruption of Raikoke volcano (the Kurile islands). Bull. Kamchatka Reg. Assoc. “Educational-Scientific center” Earth Sci., 42 (2019), pp. 5-8.