Volcano Shiveluch spews kilometres-high ash plume

Volcano Shiveluch on Kamchatka has spewed an ash column up to eight km above sea level. There is no danger for residential areas. The ash clouds from the giant have moved west of the settlements, the Emergencies Ministry's Kamchatka regional department reported on Saturday, referring to the Petropavlovsk seismological station. Warnings about the "orange" danger code for aircraft are sent to all the appropriate services. Shiveluch is the northernmost and one of the most active volcanoes on Kamchatka. The giant has erupted for about ten years with short periods of calm. The head of the Klyuchevskaya volcanological station, Yuri Demyanchuk, has told Itar-Tass that the volcano is expected to remain highly active in 2014. A lava dome is growing in its active part. Rock collapses on Shiveluch every day. On December 3, a flow of rock, ash and gases went from its slopes almost ten km. The 3,283-m-high giant is located 450 km northeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.