PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, April 18 (Itar-Tass) — The Shiveluch volcano in Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula ejected an ash cloud to an altitude of 6.5 kilometers above sea level, a spokesman for the Kamchatka branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Service told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
There was no threat for the population. No emissions of volcanic dust were registered in neighbouring villages.
The volcano spewed ash at 03:45 local time (19:45 Moscow time on April 18).
At present, an earthquake lasting for more than 20 minutes was registered at the volcano.
Reports on ash emissions from Shiveluch have been made daily since April 16. The strongest ash cloud spewed by the volcano to an altitude of 9.5 kilometers above sea level was registered on April 17.
The Shiveluch volcano has been showing high activity for around four weeks, said Nikolai Seliverstov, the deputy director for research work of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far Eastern department.
“This is a normal state for Shiveluch and nothing extraordinary is happening,” he said noting that “there are no preconditions for catastrophic eruptions of the volcano.”
Seliverstov explained that Shiveluch’s crater constantly grows and destroys its lava dome. Ash spewed into atmosphere mainly falls at the volcano’s foot.
Shiveluch is the northernmost active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is located 450 kilometers northeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Catastrophic eruptions took place in 1864 and 1964, when a large part of the lava dome collapsed and created a devastating debris avalanche. Specialists have been continuously monitoring the volcano for more than 30 years.