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Kamchatka volcano spits up ash 5-7 kilometers high

The ash spread 92 km in a north-western direction from the volcano

© Igor Buymistrov/TASS

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, January 5. /TASS/. The Klyuchevskoy Volcano in the Kamchatka Region has been spewing up ash for three days in a row, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) at the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Friday.

"The volcano emitted ash as high as 5.5 km [above sea level.] The volcano itself is 4.75 km high," the response team specified. The ash spread 92 km in a north-western direction from the volcano.

This is the third time Klyuchevskoy erupted ash in 2018. On January 3, it spewed up ash as high as 6 km, and on January 4 an orange hazard code was declared for aircraft after the second eruption at the same height.

Klyuchevskoy is Eurasia’s highest active volcano, reaching 4,750 meters high, and one of the most active on the peninsula. In 2016, up to 10 lava flows oozed down its slope simultaneously during an eruption. The nearest community - the village of Klyuchi in the Kamchatka Region- is located 30 km away from the volcano base. Ash falls are frequently observed there during eruptions.

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