Russian Far East Villages Blanketed in Ash After Volcano Eruption
The Shiveluch volcano on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula erupted, spewing out an ash cloud over an area of 108,000 square kilometers and triggering an aviation warning. Villages were covered in drifts of grey ash as deep as 8.5 centimeters, and some schools were closed while residents were ordered to stay indoors. The volcano, one of Kamchatka's largest and most active, has had an estimated 60 substantial eruptions in the past 10,000 years, the last major one being in 2007.