Volcano Shiveluch erupts ash at height of over 10 km in Kamchatka

The volcano Shiveluch has erupted the ash at a height of over ten kilometres above the sea level in Kamchatka. There is no threat to the settlements, the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences told Itar-Tass on Saturday. An upsurge in the activity of the gigantic volcano was fixed at 22:55 local time on Friday. According to the seismic reports, the volcano has been erupting the ash for an hour. There were no visual signs of eruption, because it was taking place in the nighttime. However, the observers reported a pyroclastic flow of burning pieces of volcanic rock, gases and ash sliding down the slope of the gigantic volcano. The current passed about four kilometres southwestwardly along the channel of the Baidarnaya river, not making any damage to the infrastructure. According to the emergency management centre of the Kamchatka emergency situation department, the cloud of ash erupted by the volcano may be moving southwestwardly. There are no settlements on its way. The Kamchatka branch of the Russian Geophysical Service reported that no reports were made yet about the volcanic ash falling in the settlements around the gigantic volcano. All services involved are informed about the danger, which the gases and ash emitted by the volcano in the atmosphere can pose to the aviation. Shiveluch is the northernmost erupting volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The volcano is situated 450 kilometres northeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Its absolute height is 3,283 meters. The highest point of its erupting part named Young Shiveluch is 2,500 meters above the sea level, the crater is 1,500 metres in diameter. Young Shiveluch has been active since September 1980. The closest settlement of Klyuchi is situated about 50 kilometres from the bottom of the gigantic volcano.