Kamchatka's Klyuchi hit by heaviest ash fall in 60 years

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY. April 11 (Interfax) - The town of Klyuchi in Russia's Ust-Kamchatsk district has been hit by the heaviest ash fall in 60 years, the ash is coming from the erupting Shiveluch volcano, the press service of the Volcanology and Seismology Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian branch said on Tuesday.

"The last time Klyuchi, the nearest settlement to Shiveluch, has seen so much ash was in 1964. About 8.5 centimeters of ash have fallen, and the ash fall is continuing," the press service quoted Institute Director Alexei Ozerov as saying.

The ash cloud is billowing 500 kilometers northwest of Shiveluch and beyond. Ash fall is continuing in Klyuchi and Kozyrevsk. There is an ash fall probability in the Milkovo, Tigil, Elizovo and Bystrinsky districts and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, he said.

"Weather permitting, volcanologists will try to observe the Shiveluch dome to see if there will be a second paroxysm," Ozerov said.

A rescue team has been deployed to the Ust-Kamchatsk district, the press service for the Kamchatka territorial government said on Tuesday.

"The rescuers will bring the first batch of 7,000 disposable face masks to communities in the district, provide safety on the roads in case somebody has been caught in the ash fall and, if necessary, will help the population of the Ust-Kamchatsk district," the press service said.

The Shiveluch eruption reached the paroxysmal stage in the small hours of April 11. Video observation is obstructed by blizzard but the ash cloud is believed to have stretched for 15-20 kilometers.

The sky is covered with a black cloud within a radius of dozens of kilometers from the volcano. Thunder rumbles due to electrostatic stress in the ash cloud. Heavy ash falls are continuing in communities across the Ust-Kamchatsk district. Schools and social facilities are closed on Tuesday. The road between Klyuchi and Ust-Kamchatsk is closed due to bad visibility. The ash fall cut power supply to two communities in the district - the town of Kozyrevsk and the village of Maiskoye on Tuesday.

The eruption has been designated as aviation code red.

Tourists have been warned to stay 30 kilometers away from the volcano.

Shiveluch is one of the largest volcanoes in Kamchatka. It has three main elements: the Old Shiveluch volcano, the ancient caldera and the active Young Shiveluch volcano. The lava dome of Young Shiveluch is 2,500 meters high. The volcano is located at the intersection of the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian island arcs at a distance of 50 kilometers from the village of Klyuchi in the Ust-Kamchatsk district and 450 kilometers from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Its age is estimated at 60,000-70,000 years.