On the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East, the Shiveluch volcano is active again. He spews a ten-kilometre-high ash cloud into the air that shrouds some Russian villages in darkness.
Day suddenly turned into night. “You can’t see a hand in front of you.” The eruption could also affect air traffic, volcanologists said.
According to Russian geologists, a “strong explosive eruption” was underway on the night from Monday to Tuesday. Ash was spewed up to ten kilometres high. “Continued activity could disrupt international air traffic,” said the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT). As a result, a code red applies to air traffic, the highest level.
The geologists said that a large ash plume is moving 210 miles to the north-northwest and 150 miles to the west-southwest of the volcano. According to KVERT, the ash explosions could reach up to 15 kilometres high at any time.
Shiveluch is a 3,300 m high stratovolcano, Kamchatka’s northernmost and most active volcano. There are about 160 volcanoes on the peninsula, but only about twenty are active. The volcanoes of Kamchatka are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.