Russian space agency Roscosmos has released a remarkable, if slightly ominous-looking, satellite image of Peru’s Ubinas volcano, taken as it spewed an enormous column of grey ash into the sky.

Snapped from the Resurs-P satellite at a height of thousands of kilometers, the ominous image makes it appear as though a spooky skull is spilling a huge plume of ash out of its mouth into the Peruvian countryside.

The volcano, which is located in the Moquegua region of southern Peru, began erupting last Thursday, sending a pillar of ash 12km into the air. A state of emergency was declared and thousands of people were ordered to evacuate as ash rained down on hundreds of schools and health centers. 

Ubinas has now ceased erupting but the most recent report from the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP) said another eruption on Wednesday couldn’t be ruled out.

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