Bezymianny Volcano

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The Bezymianny Volcano experienced an explosive eruption on May 9, 2006. The volcano emitted an ash column as high as 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). According to news reports, the Aleutian Islands in western Alaska had an ashfall advisory as a result of this eruption. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard the Aqua satellite took this picture on May 10, 2006. In this image, the volcano appears near the center, and a dusting of ash covers the snow east of the volcano. A faint white plume is just visible over the ash field.

Situated on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia, the Bezymianny Volcano was once considered extinct, until an eruption in the mid-1950s proved it was still active. That eruption produced a horseshoe-shaped crater following the collapse of the summit. The crater was later filled by growth of a lava dome and intermittent explosive eruptions.

NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.

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