Russia volcano eruption blankets towns in ash, disrupts air traffic

The Shiveluch volcano, located on Russia's far east Kamchatka peninsula, erupted just after midnight and was still erupting nearly 15 hours later, scientists said.

A volcano in Russia’s far eastern region erupted early Tuesday, spewing a massive cloud of ash into the sky that blotted out the sun and smothered villages in grey volcanic dust.

The Shiveluch volcano, which is located on Russia’s northeastern Kamchatka peninsula and juts into the Pacific Ocean, erupted around 12:54 a.m. local time and was still erupting nearly 15 hours later, according to a Telegram post from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Survey.

At the height of the eruption, about six hours in, the volcano shot debris 20 kilometres into the air and the ash cloud that resulted covered an area of 108,000 square kilometres (41,699 square miles).

“The ash cloud moved westwards and there was a very strong fall of ash on nearby villages,” said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Survey.

Towns in the surrounding areas were carpeted in drifts of grey ash as deep as 8.5 centimetres — the most volcanic fallout Russia has seen in 60 years — as the ash cloud rained down.

The village of Klyuchi, located about 50 kilometres from the volcano, was on the front lines of the eruption. Residents posted videos showing the ash cloud plunging the area into darkness.

Lava flows tumbled from the volcano, melting snow and prompting a warning of mud flows along a nearby highway. Pictures showed the ash cloud billowing swiftly over the forests and rivers of the far east.