Kamchatcka eruption in Russia produces amount of ash in 60 years

Moscow, Apr 11 (EFE).- A volcanic eruption on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s Far East has sent a huge cloud into the sky, covering several nearby towns in the largest amount of volcanic ash in 60 years, a Russian volcanologist said Tuesday.

“The previous ash fallout of such magnitude in Kliuchi – the nearest town to Shiveluch – took place in 1964,” said Alexei Ozerov, director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far Middle East department, on the institution’s website.

According to the scientist, “at the moment the ash layer is about 8.5 centimeters, and the ash rain continues”.

The Shiveluch eruption began shortly after midnight local time, with the release of an ash plume that reached 20 kilometers in height, the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported on Telegram.

The eruption has triggered the highest possible “red” alert for aviation.

The governor of the Ust-Kamchatsk region, Oleg Bondarenko, reported on Telegram that the sky was covered with a cloud of ash that spread dozens of kilometers around the volcano and covered several nearby localities.

Local authorities called on the population to stay indoors, canceled classes, and closed the surrounding highways due to the risk of mudslides.

In February 2015, Shiveluch, one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Kamchatka, with a height of 3,283 meters, released an ash plume that rose to more than 6,000 meters high, forming a cloud that crossed the Pacific and reached the US states of Oregon and Washington. EFE

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