At approximately 2136 EST, the volcano, Klyuchevskaya Sopka, erupted. Over the last hour, an ash cloud has reached 10km into the atmosphere and a river of lava is running down the side of the mountain.
Local authorities have begun evacuating a number of villages in the area and are collecting supplies at transit hubs in order to cloth and feed evacuated persons.
According to Russian state-owned media: “Klyuchevskoy Volcano (Klyuchevskaya Sopka) is the highest active volcano in Eurasia. The volcano is a regular cone with a summit crater about 700 m in diameter. There are about 80 side explosion craters and cinder cones on the slopes. The volcano is located 30 km from the village of Klyuchi in the Ust-Kamchatka region, where about 4.5 thousand people live.“
As of this publication, the eruption is ongoing.
