He Shiveluch volcanoone of the most active in Russia, entered into rash this Tuesday morning in the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka (about 6,600 kilometers east of Moscow) spewing clouds of dust 20 kilometers and covering wide areas with ash. These ash clouds have spread over 500 kilometers to the northwest covering several villages in the area with gray volcanic dust.

At the time of the eruption lava flows fell from the volcano melting snow and triggering a mudflow warning along a nearby road, while villages were carpeted in rip currents. gray ash up to eight centimeters. “The ash reached 20 kilometers in height, the ash cloud moved to the west and there was a very strong fall of ash in the nearby villages,” he explained on Tuesday. Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Survey. The expert believes that the volcano spent a year preparing for the eruption.

The scientists described the consequences as the largest in nearly 60 years. “The process continues, although it has calmed down a bit now,” she added. About 24 hours later Before the volcano began to erupt, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Kamchatka, according to the geological survey. Russian scientists noted that the quake was an aftershock of an April 3 quake.

As a consequence, the area was closed to air traffic. Local authorities advised residents to stay indoors and close schools in several affected communities. Two villages had their power supplies cut off for a few hours until emergency teams restored them.

The town of Klyuchiwhich is about 50 kilometers from the volcano, was one of the most affected. He ended up covered by a eight centimeter layer of dust. Residents have posted videos showing an ash cloud leaving darkness. Kamchatka’s governor, Vladimir Solódov, has ruled out the need for a mass evacuation, but has urged residents with health problems to be temporarily evacuated.

Shiveluch has two parts, the 3,283 meter Old Shiveluch and the smaller and highly active Young Shiveluch. The Kamchatka Peninsula, which stretches out into the Pacific Ocean some 6,600 kilometers east of Moscow, is one of the areas of most concentrated geothermal activity in the world, with about 30 active volcanoes. In the case of Shiveluch, it has had an estimated 60 substantial eruptions in the last 10,000 years, the last major one being in 2007.