Volcano erupts in Russia's Kamchatka, spewing ash 11.5 km high

Shiveluch volcano, which is erupting on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, spewed ash to a height of 11.5 km above sea level on February 3, according to the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The ash emission occurred at 2:51 p.m. local time, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

“The ash plume stretched 80 km northwest of the volcano,” the statement said.

Earlier reports said that on February 2, Shiveluch produced three ash columns during the day, reaching heights of between 6 and 11 km above sea level. On the same day, the aviation hazard colour code for the volcano was raised from “orange” to the highest level, “red.”

On January 28, the volcano also emitted several ash plumes rising up to 8 km above sea level.

Shiveluch is the northernmost active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is located about 45 km from the settlement of Klyuchi in the Ust-Kamchatsky district, which has a population of around 5,000. Shiveluch is one of Kamchatka’s largest volcanoes, with an estimated age of 60,000–70,000 years.

By Khagan Isayev