A major volcano eruption turned day into dark night in eastern Russia as an ash cloud spread for hundreds of miles. Videos show the doomsday scene after an outpouring from Shiveluch volcano in the Kamchatka region which turned the snow black.
According to Mirror, Ash rose 12 miles into the sky, said reports, with a red warning to aviation from the plume, the highest category. An area of 41,700 square miles was blanketed in darkness, an area larger than Scotland and Wales combined.
“The ash cloud extends 500 kilometers northwest of Shiveluch and is still growing,” said Alexey Ozerov, director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The region was also hit by a 4.5 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter in the waters of Avacha Bay. Residents said the morning sky had turned to darkness.”The sun should be shining but is nowhere to be seen,” said one.
“The village is under a cloud of ash from the Shiveluch volcano….. “It’s pitch dark…You cannot see anything.” Commentary on another video said as day turned to night: “That’s it, the lights are out.
“No sunlight.” There was a threat that streams of hot lava could block roads, said officials. Schools were closed.
“The ash reached 20 kilometers high [12 miles], the ash cloud moved westwards and there was a very strong fall of ash on nearby villages,” said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Survey.
