Shiveluch News

 A major eruption took place at the volcano this morning at about 08:30 local time.

The sizeable explosion created a spectacular grey ash-rich eruption column which reached up to 52,000 ft (15,800 m) altitude and drifted about 340 km to the north-northwest and about 240 km to the west-southwest of the volcano. Its sound was heard in Klyuchi village and the sky is dark of ash, local volcanologists reported.

Soon after the eruption, a heavy fall of grey ash fine particles affected all surfaces, including urban areas. The local ground is being covered by a thick ash tephra blanket with a width of about 6-8 cm.

The eruption culminated in a massive and dilute pyroclastic flow as well, scooting across the vast edifice area. Whether the powerful explosion destroyed the actively growing lava dome area is not clear yet, we might to conclude it later on from upcoming taken images or satellite images.

A huge amount of fine ash particles, released from the eruption, might present a danger for aviation and precautions with air traffic must be taken. Therefore, the KVERT local observatory raised the Aviation Color Code to "Red".

Update 4/12:

The first official and more precise information comes from the local volcanologist Alexey Demyanchuk that has been observing the major explosion today.
The eruptive phase began at 01:00 local time tonight, followed by strong events at 02:00 and 03:00 local time and finally by the reported massive one at 06:00.
In the last update, the spectacular ash cloud has been reported drifting 340 km to the north-northwest and about 240 km to the west-southwest of the volcano, it has been gradually spreading along vast stretches of the western-southwestern Kamchatka due to prevailing winds. The plume is currently extended about 435 km from the volcano. The eruption has been accompanied by continuous lightning and rumbling by 10:00 local time.
Soon after the eruption, at about 06:30 local time, a heavy fall of grey-brown-to-reddish ash fine particles started to occur in Klyuchi village, consequently, the sky got darkened at about 07:00 local time. At about 09:30 local time, the eruption plume covered Kozyrevsk village with a thick ash tephra blanket. The local ground is being covered by a thick ash tephra blanket with a width of about 6-8 cm. The color of most particles, up to a few mm in size, was mostly brown to reddish brown, described as "earthy". This could mean that most of the ejected material might be from older lava rocks in the summit craters or inside the vent. According to Alexey Demyanchuk, a strong smell of gas is being reported.
Satellite-based measurements of SO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, acquired by the TROMOPI sensor, show the impressive SO2 plumes ejected by the volcano. Estimated sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions within the 300 km plume dimension are about 356.9 ktons.
About damages, a diesel power plant got broken and a couple of complaints on social media reported dirty water from drainages due to ash-filled pipes. Given the relatively high eruption rate, neither injuries nor fatalities have been reported yet.
At about 10:30 local time, the sky started to brighten up again.
The eruptive period came without warning, even though the volcano had been in the ongoing high state of activity levels during the recent weeks, no detected precursor was registered.

Update Apr13:

The volcano is dominated by ongoing strong vulcanian-type explosions and generally continues at highly elevated levels after the dramatic paroxysm activity yesterday.
Intermittent, but relatively vigorous eruptions have generated grey, still spectacular billowing ash plumes over the past 24 hours. Tall and dense columns sent fine volcanic ash up to 12 km, 10 km and 8,5 kilometers in height. The original ash plume from the massive eruption yesterday has extended about 1300 km to the east of the volcano.