The Shiveluch volcano erupted shortly after midnight, reaching a crescendo about six hours later. The ash reached 20 kilometers high, the ash cloud moved westward and there was a heavy ash fall on nearby villages.
Some schools on the Kamchatka peninsula, about 6,800 km east of Moscow, were closed and residents were ordered to stay indoors. The volcano has undergone some 60 major eruptions in the past 10,000 years, the last of them in 2007.