Russia’s most active volcano erupts, shoots ash plume 10 kilometers high

The Shiveluch volcano in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula erupted sending an ash plume up to 10 kilometers high that may pose threat to air traffic, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) said.

Issuing a code red Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation, the team noted that a “large ash cloud” was moving west of the volcano.

Ash explosions up to 15 kilometers high could occur at any time and “ongoing activity could affect international and low-flying aircraft,” it said. Schools were shut and residents in villages close to the eruption were told to stay indoors, head of the Ust-Kamchatsky municipal region Oleg Bondarenko said, as per news agency Reuters.

The offiical said that following the eruption the cloud spread over Klyuchi and Kozyrevsk. Both the villages are more than 70 kilometers apart, Reuters reported. “Residents are advised to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel,” he said.

The Shiveluch is one of Russia’s largest and most active volcanoes which has had an estimated 60 eruptions in the past 10,000 years. The last major eruption occurred in 2007.