Major volcano eruption sends ash cloud 12 miles into the sky in ‘doomsday scenes’ in eastern Russia
Massive volcanic eruption sends ash plume 20 kilometers into the air, threatening planes and turning day into night in ‘doomsday scenes’ in eastern Russia
- The Shiveluch volcano erupted just after midnight on the Kamchatka Peninsula
- Lava poured out of the volcano, melting snow and mudslide warnings
One of Russia’s most active volcanoes has erupted, sending a huge cloud of ash skyward and villages smothered in clouds of gray volcanic dust.
Judgment Day on Tuesday caused an aviation alert around Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east when the ash reached 12 miles (19 km) high.
Shiveluch volcano erupted just after midnight and reached a crescendo about six hours later, when an ash plume reportedly rose over an area of 108,000 square kilometers.
Lava flows tumbled off the volcano, melting snow and warning of mudslides along a nearby highway, while villages were covered in gray ash up to 8.5 centimeters deep, the deepest in 60 years.
A view shows the Shiveluch volcano spewing volcanic ash and smoke, in Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia
Lava flows tumbled out of the volcano, melting snow and sparking a mudslide warning during last year’s eruption in November
“The ash reached a height of 20 kilometers, the ash cloud moved to the west and a very strong ash fall fell on nearby villages,” said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka Department of the Geophysical Survey.
“The volcano had been preparing for this for at least a year… and the process continues, although it has calmed down a bit now,” Chebrov said.
He said the volcano was likely to calm down now, but further large ash clouds could not be ruled out. He said lava flows should not reach local villages.
The Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) has issued a red alert for aviation, stating that “continued activity may affect international and low-flying aircraft.”
Some schools on the Kamchatka Peninsula, about 4,000 miles (6,800 km) east of Moscow, were closed and residents were ordered to stay indoors, Oleg Bondarenko, head of the Ust-Kamchatsky Municipal Region, said in a Telegram post.
“Because what I just saw here with my own eyes, it will be impossible for children to go to school, and in general the presence of children here is doubtful,” said Bondarenko.
He said power had been restored to residents and drinking water was being supplied.
A satellite image shows the Shiveluch volcano in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in November 2022
The volcanic eruption spewed an ash plume 20 kilometers into the air. The volcano was pictured in November last year
One of Kamchatka’s largest and most active volcanoes, Shiveluch has had an estimated 60 substantial eruptions over the last 10,000 years, the last major one being in 2007.
It has two main parts, the smaller of which – Young Shiveluch – has been extremely active in recent months, according to scientists, with a peak of 2,800 meters (9,186 feet) jutting out from the 3,283-meter Old Shiveluch.
Scientists posted photos of the ash cloud billowing rapidly over the forests and rivers of the Far East and of villages covered in ash. One posted a photo of the depth of the ash fall – over 8 inches deep.