PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, September 26 (Itar-Tass) — Volcano Karymsky on the Kamchatka Peninsula has spewed ash to an altitude of up to six kilometres above sea level. There is no hazard to the inhabited localitites -- they are situated at a long distance from the volcano, an official at the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences told Itar-Tass.

The official said an earthquake in the volcano's environs occured at 08:41, local time, on Wednesday, and lasted five minutes. The earth jolt was accompanied with an ejection of volcanic material from the volcano's crater. The height of ejection may vary from 4.7 km to 7.3 km, specialists say. Conclusions about an ejection height are drawn on the strength of seismic data, the official pointed out.

Karymsky is one of the most active volcanoes of Kamchatka. Its altitude is 1,536 km. The volcano is located in the central part of the Eastern volcano belt of Kamchatka, 30 km away from the Pacific coast, and 125 km north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The volcano has been active since January 1996.