Volcanic eruption starts in Russia’s far east

An explosive volcanic eruption began in Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Tuesday, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) said on Wednesday. The eruption at the 3,085-meter Plosky Tolbachik volcano was given code orange (number three on the four-tiered USGS Volcano Alert Level), meaning it “poses limited hazards,” according to the Russian (RIA Novosti) News Agency. “Explosive eruption of the volcano began on November 27. Ash explosions up to 32,800 ft about (10 km) a.s.l. could occur at any time. Ongoing activity could affect international and low-flying aircraft,” the organization said. Observers from neighboring villages saw ash explosions and lava flows at the site of the previous eruption. Scientists say the volcano is obscured by clouds at now, but lava intrusions towards the volcano’s summit caldera are also probable. An ash fall was reported in the nearby village of Krasny Yar. Plosky Tolbachik, located on the peninsula’s eastern coast, 343 km from the region’s capital of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The volcano erupted only 10 times since records began in 1740. The last eruption was in 1975-1976.