Russia - one end of the country to the other

Russia's Kamchatka volcano eruption destroys science camps

TwoCircles.net,

30 November, 2012

Moscow: Lava flows from the slope of erupting volcano Plosky Tolbachik in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula have destroyed two nearby scientific camps, a local branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences said on Friday.

The 3,085-meter Plosky Tolbachik, which is part of a volcanic complex located 343 km from the region's capital of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, erupted Nov 27 for the first time in 36 years.

The two camps were located 10 km from the volcano.

The eruption has been already assigned a Red Code status as the volcano is throwing clouds of ash to the height of 3,000 meters with the potential for ash explosions up to 10 km.

Residents of nearby villages have been advised not to leave their homes as massive ash falls in the area are filled with toxic sulfur fumes.

The clouds of volcanic ash could also pose threat to air traffic because the tiny particles cause problems with aircraft engine turbines.

The Plosky Tolbachik erupted 10 times since records began in 1740, with the most notable eruption in 1975, commonly known as The Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption. Soviet scientists successfully predicted the eruption because it was preceded by a series of earthquakes.

The 1975 eruption dramatically changed the local landscape and became an ecological disaster as the volume of lava and ashes emitted by the Plosky Tolbachik was the largest in recorded history of Kamchatka.

There are more than 150 volcanoes on Kamchatka, 30 of them active.

Could Russia's Tolbachik volcano be the next Eyjafjallajökull?

 

Digital Journal,

30 November, 2012

All week the Tolbachik volcano in Russia has been showing strong signs of activity. Initially the alert was raised from yellow to orange. As of today, the alert is now at red, the highest warning designation.

Yesterday Digital Journal reported that Russia's Plosky Tolbachik volcano had been upgraded to an orange alert. Today, the KVERT website (Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team) has again raised the volcano alert, now it is at a red designation, which is the strongest volcanic activity level and some media reports are suggesting it could become another Eyjafjallajökull.

According to KVERT, a red alert level means "Eruption is forecast to be imminent with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere likely," or, "Eruption is underway with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere."

This strong eruption is leading some to ask whether or not Plosky Tolbachik may become the next Eyjafjallajökull as its spewing of ash and lava intensifies.

Olga Girina, expert of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, indicated Tolbachik can "turn out to be as powerful as the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull," Pravda, a Russian publication, reported.

Back in 2010, Eyjafjallajökull caused the shutdown of several airports throughout Europe, which led to global disruption across many industries.

This eruption is Tolbachik's wake-up call after 36 years. Wired reported the magnitude of this week's volcanic eruption activity is still uncertain at this point.

Whether or not Tolbachik's eruption will cause the same type of disruption Eyjafjallajökull's mighty awakening caused, remains to be seen. Experts are carefully monitoring this volcanic eruption.

Moscow blanketed by major early snowfall

A large, early snowstorm raging in Moscow disrupted flights and created havoc on the roads on Thursday.

MSNBC,

30 November, 2012

Yelena Temakina, chief of the forecast department at Moscow's Meteorological Office, said 20 centimeters (8 inches) of snow had fallen in 24 hours. That is half of Moscow's typical amount of snow for the whole of November.

Moscow's City Hall said it expects the snowstorm, which is due to continue at least until Friday morning, to be the biggest in November in 50 years.

The roads in the capital have been clogged up since early Thursday morning and about 70 flights from Moscow's largest airport, Domodedovo, were disrupted overnight. On Thursday, all three of the capital's airports were working normally.

Motorists complained about the lack of efforts to clear the snow from the streets. In one section of Moscow's beltway the traffic was paralyzed for at least 30 kilometers (18 miles) on Thursday afternoon, according to the traffic tracker Yandex.Probki.