• The Plosky Tolbachik volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has erupted after lying dormant for 36 years
• Infra-red and visible light images captured by NASA’s Earth Observing 1 satellite show hot lava spewing from volcano
• The lava flows reportedly destroyed two research camps and forced schools in nearby villages to close

These astonishing aerial images captured by a NASA satellite reveal molten lava spewing from a Russian volcano that suddenly erupted after lying dormant for 36 years.

The Plosky Tolbachik volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula burst into activity on November 27, sending clouds of ash almost 10,000 feet into the air, and leading some experts to warn it could go on to unleash an eruption as powerful as that seen from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokel in 2010, which caused more than a week of air traffic disruption.

Lava flows pouring from the mouth of the volcano – which appear like a river of fire in one infra-red image released by NASA – are reported to have destroyed two research camps and forced schools in nearby villages to close.

Molten: This infrared image of Tolbachik Volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula was captured by the Advanced Land Imager on NASA’s Earth Observing 1 satellite – the area in red is hot lava spewing from the volcano

The first aerial view, which shows the view of Tolbachik from NASA’s Earth Observing 1 satellite using infra-red, has an almost other-worldly quality thanks to the false colours used to highlight areas of different temperatures.

The bright red areas reflect the heat of the lava, while the green areas indicate the cooler swathes of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

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A second visible light image again picks out the lava flows – this time as a river of darkness coursing from the mouth of the volcano, which was continuing to spew clouds of ash into the air a week after the eruption.

The images were captured by the satellite last week, in the days following the eruption on November 27. A third, composite image released by NASA combines a picture of the volcano from July 19 with fresh infrared data from December 3, post-eruption.

The earlier picture is used as the background, with vegetation highlighted in red, older lava flows in dark grey and snow in white. It has been overlaid with a night time thermal infra-red image, captured on December 3, which picks out the hot lava flows in bright yellow.

Russian authorities have now downgraded Tolbachik’s alert status from red to orange, according to a report on NBCNews.com. But experts are said to be continuing to monitor the volcano for signs of further activity.

Eerie: In this visible-light view from the Nasa satellite the lava flow is picked out as a river of darkness against a backdrop that appears almost like a snowy mountain scene

Composite: This composite picture released by NASA is made up of a pre-eruption image as a backdrop, with older lava flows shown in grey, overlaid with a post-eruption image, with hot lava picked out in bright yellow

Eruption: An ash cloud is seen rising from the Plosky Tolbachik volcano in Russia last week – before the eruption on December 3 the volcano had lain dormant for 36 years

Active: Some experts fear Tolbachik could unleash an eruption as powerful as Eyjafjallajökull’s Icelandic blast, which led to airspace over parts of Europe being closed in April 2010

Impact: Lava flows from the Russian volcano reportedly destroyed two research camps and forced schools in nearby villages to close as a safety precaution

Spectacle: The eruption sent clouds of ash almost 10,000 feet into the sky above Tolbachik, which is located on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula

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