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Kamchatka volcano Shiveluch spews ash, dust to 5 km altitude

A series of disharges of ash from the crater of volcano Shiveluch has been recorded on the Kamchatka Peninsula

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, March 14 (Itar-Tass) — A series of disharges of ash from the crater of volcano Shiveluch has been recorded on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Those posed no hazard to the population, a source at the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

The source pointed out that, according to seismic data, the volcano spewed ash twice to an altitude of 3.2 km within 24 hours at an interval of nine hours. The discharges were accompanied with earth jolts which occurred directly in the volcano and which lasted ten and eight minutes, respectively. Visually, specialists saw a pillar of volcanic dust rising into the air above the volcano to an altitude of five kilometres above sea level.

Shiveluch is Kamchatka's northernmost active volcano. Its absolute altitude is 3,283 metres. The top point of the active part, referred to as Molodoi (young) Shiveluch, is 2,500 metres; the diameter of the crater is`1.5 km. The Young Shiveluch has been active since September 1980. Continuous monitoring of the volcano has been conducted for more than 30 years.