Klyuchevskoy volcano (Kamchatka): dramatic activity continues, tremendous ash cloud darkened sky towards east, tall lava fountains, multiple lava flows and massive pyroclastic torrents

Huge ash emissions from Klyuchevskoy volcano this afternoon (image: Kirill Bakanov)

The activity at the volcano has been accelerating throughout most of today.

As we reported in the latest post this morning, the explosive eruption at the summit vent has been picking up and culminated into a powerful vulcanian-sized ash column. Abundant grey constant emissions of very fine ash rose up to estimated 14 km (46,000 ft).
Several spectacular images and aerial videos of the activity have been circling in social media today, depicting a spectacular billowing grey-to-black ash column that has already been dissipating 1600 km to the south-southeast of the volcano at the time of this update.
The most recent satellite imagery of the strong eruptive activity, acquired by Landsat 8-9, revealed multiple active lava flows descending over the northwestern and southwestern Kozyrevsky channel. The third lava flow, advancing along the Apakhonchich chute, is being obscured by ash clouds in the image for now, but from recent observations, it continues to be active.
Impressive and strong fire fountains (classified as high magnitude explosive eruptions, so-called paroxysm) shoot into the sky as have been clearly visible from the webcam, some lava jets surpass even 500 meters in height and build the growing cinder cone within the main crater by piling of ejected hot, juvenile and plastic lava clots. Moreover, the lava-fountaining episode continues to feed lava flows by coalescing of hot fluid blebs falling to the ground.

Large and dilute hot avalanches (gravity-driven mass flows) have been racing over the slopes due to the destabilization of the crater area, resulting in pyroclastic flows, which in turn lifted tall ash plumes – phoenix clouds – towering wall of cloud rising above pyroclastic torrent. Pyroclastic flows are deadly, turbulent hot avalanches of lava rock fragments of all sizes embedded in a mixture of turbulent gas and ash racing down slopes.
The Aviation Color Code for the volcano was already raised to „RED“ yesterday as increasing ash emissions present a danger to aviation, and precautions with air traffic must be taken.