Dormant since 1924, the Raikoke Volcano in the Kuril Island chain, near the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, recently awoke. Data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P and Sentinel-3 satellites are giving vital information on its aftermath.
On 21 June at about 18:00 UTC, the circular 2.5 km x 2.0 km island discharged a vast plume of volcanic gases and ash, between 7 and 15 km into the sky. The thick plume was carried to the east by a cyclone in the North Pacific, which the Copernicus Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-5P satellites recorded.