Shiveluch is one of one of Kamchatka's largest and most active volcanoes, and the one that has had the most violent eruptions. It has had over 60 large explosive eruptions during the past 10,000 years. Catastrophic eruptions took place in 1854 and 1956, when a large part of the lava dome collapsed and created a devastating debris avalanche. 
It belongs to the Kliuchevskaya volcano group and is about 65,000 years old. Its summit is truncated by a broad 9-km-wide caldera of about 10,000 years of age, breached to the south.  Many lava domes dot its outer flanks.  Widespread tephra layers from Shiveluch's eruptions are valuable time markers for dating volcanic events in Kamchatka.