One of Russia's most active volcanoes erupted on the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula on April 11, shooting a vast cloud of ash far into the sky that smothered villages in drifts of grey volcanic dust and triggered an aviation warning.The Shiveluch volcano erupted just after midnight and reached a crescendo about six hours later, spewing out an ash cloud over an area of 108,000 square kilometres (41,700 square miles), according to the Kamchatka Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Geophysical Survey. Here's a look at the aftermath of the volcanic erruption.

Lava flows tumbled from the volcano, melting snow and prompting a warning of mud flows along a nearby highway while villages were carpeted in drifts of grey ash as deep as 8.5 centimetres (3.5 inches), the deepest in 60 years. Volcanic ash was seen covering the ground in Ust-Kamchatsky district after the Shiveluch volcano's eruption on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russian far east. The volcanoe, which erupted on Tuesday, spewed clouds of ash 20 kilometers into the sky and covered broad areas with ash.

Smoke and ash are visible during the the Shiveluch volcano's eruption on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Shiveluch, one of Russia's most active volcanoes, erupted Tuesday, spewing clouds of ash 20 kilometers into the sky and covering broad areas with ash. (Alexander Ledyayev via AP)

"The volcano was preparing for this for at least a year... and the process is continuing though it has calmed a little now," Chebrov said.Around 24 hours after the volcano began erupting, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Kamchatka, the geological survey said. Russian scientists said the quake was an aftershock from an April 3 earthquake.

About 300,000 people live on Russia's vast Kamchatka peninsula, which juts into the Pacific Ocean northeast of Japan.The volcano, one of Kamchatka's largest and most active, would probably calm now, Chebrov said, though he cautioned that further major ash clouds could not be excluded. Chebrov said the lava flows should not reach local villages.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, though scientists said the volcano was still erupting 15 hours after the start of the eruption.The Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) issued a red notice for aviation, saying "ongoing activity could affect international and low-flying aircraft".Some schools on the peninsula, about 6,800 km east of Moscow, were closed and residents ordered to stay indoors, head of the Ust-Kamchatsky municipal region Oleg Bondarenko said in a Telegram post.