"On April 11, 2023, 05:44 a.m. [local time, 17:44 GMT on Monday], the Shiveluch volcano erupted. According to seismic data, the height of ash spewed by the eruption was about 20,000 meters above sea level," the RAS said on Telegram.
The Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the RAS said in a statement that volcanic flows from Shiveluch could travel up to 20 kilometers and block roads. The institute said that ash spews pose a significant danger to aviation; thus, the highest level of threat for aviation was declared on the peninsula.
The institute said that ashfall in the village of Klyuchi was the strongest in the last 60 years.
Oleg Bondarenko, the head of the Ust-Kamchatsky district, said on Telegram that the sky was covered with a black cloud within a radius of several tens of kilometers from the volcano, including the villages of Klyuchi and Kozyrevsk in the Ust-Kamchatsky district.
He added that thunder rumbled due to electrostatic stress in the ash cloud. Ashes began to fall in the villages, he said, and urged residents of the district to remain indoors and wear masks.
Vladimir Solodov, the governor of the Kamchatka region, also urged residents not to leave their houses unnecessarily, adding that the work of social institutions and schools was suspended, and the road traffic between Klyuchi and Ust-Kamchatsk was blocked.
The government of the Kamchatka region said on Tuesday, citing scientists, that volcanic ash has already spread 500 kilometers northwest of the volcano and continues to spread. Ashfall intensified in Klyuchi and Kozyrevsk, the government added.
The government said that a group of rescuers have already departed to Klyuchi to deliver 7,000 medical masks, help the residents, and maintain safety on the roads. Hospitals and other medical facilities in the district were switched to round-the-clock operation, the government said.
The press office of Russian regional energy company Kamchatskenergo said severe ashfall caused power outages in the villages of Kozyrevsk and Mayskoe. The company's specialists were waiting for the end of ashfall and snowfalls to begin clearing insulators on power lines and transformer substations, the company said, adding that the social infrastructure of the villages was connected to backup power sources.
Shiveluch is one of Kamchatka's largest, most active, and most continuously erupting volcanoes, as well as one of the most active on the planet. Shiveluch is located in central Kamchatka, 50 kilometers from Klyuchi and 450 kilometers from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.