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Volcano Shiveluch on Kamchatka spews over-2-km-high column of ash

The giant, the height of which is over 3,2 km, is covered with thick clouds

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, January 19 (Itar-Tass) - Volcano Shiveluch on Kamchatka has spewed ash to an altitude of more than five km above sea level, the Kamchatka office of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported on Saturday.

The giant, the height of which is over 3,2 km, is covered with thick clouds. So, specialists estimate the height of the ash column with the data received from the seismological stations located at the foot of the volcano. They record high activity of the giant. A series of earthquakes took place on the volcano over the past 24 hours. They were accompanied with volcanic material discharges into the atmosphere, the Kamchatka geophysical service reports.

There have been no reports about ash fall in nearby residential areas.

The peninsula's volcanoes Kizimen and Plosky Tolbachik also remain active.

Eighty local quakes took place on Kizimen over the past 24 hours. Some of them could be accompanied with ash emissions to an altitude of 3.6-4.4 km above sea level.

A thermal anomaly remains is the area of the fissure eruption on Plosky Tolbachik, which became active on November 27, last year, after it was calm for 36 years. Because of cloudiness, it is not seen what is happening there. However, seismological monitoring data indicate that the eruption continues. The giant vibrates with an amplitude of up to 13.89 micrometre a second.

According to the classification of the KVERT Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, an "orange" aviation code is given to all the three volcanoes, warning about the danger for flights from ash and gases emitted by the giants into the atmosphere.

The Kamchatka volcanoes represent no danger for residential areas. The giants are constantly monitored.