Powerful Volcanic Eruption In Russia: Cloud Spreads Over 500km

Ash coveres the neighbouring settlements.

A powerful eruption of volcano Shiveluch happened in northeastern Russia, Kamchatka, on the night of Tuesday, April 11. The ash cloud reached 10 km high and 500 km wide, exposing a dangerously large plume of ash. Heavy ash fall is registered in the neighbouring villages.

The ash cloud may reach Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia's Ministry for Emergency Situations reports. Residents of the Ust-Kamchatka district were advised to stay indoors; schools were closed and vehicular traffic was blocked in the area.

The village of Klyuchi, 50km from Shiveluch, recorded its heaviest ash fall in 60 years - about 8.5cm of ash fell there by the morning of April 11. Local residents are sharing unique photos and videos on social networks.

The Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations reports that ash from volcano Shiveluch poses an increased threat to international flights. The maximum aviation alert code has been declared.

"Ashes clouds covered the sky within a radius of several tens of kilometres from the volcano, including over the settlements of Klyuchi and Kozyrevsk. Thunder sounds because of the electrostatic tension in the ash cloud. An ash fall has begun in the Klyuchi and Maisky villages," district head Oleg Bondarenko stated on social media.

Due to poor visibility and heavy ash fall, more than 250 km of roads have been blocked, and all scheduled buses in the eruption area have been cancelled.

Specialists warn that the mudflows may cover a distance of up to 20 km after the eruption, so they potentially threaten the highway from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Ust-Kamchatsk. Tourists are advised to refrain from visiting the volcano's surroundings within a radius of 30 km.

In turn, the director of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences Danila Chebrov told the KamchatkaMedia news agency that Shiveluch was preparing for eruption for almost a year.

"Shiveluch finally began to erupt as it should," Chebrov said. He said that the strong phase of the volcano's eruption began around 1am and reached its maximum intensity by 6am, which was followed by an ashy eruption.

Shiveluch is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Kamchatka, it has experienced about 60 significant eruptions over the last 10 thousand years, the most recent occurred in 2007.