Shiveluch volcano in Russia spews ash up to 10 km height

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: The Shiveluch volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has spewed ash to a height of up to 10 km above sea level. [caption id=“attachment_1545171” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Volcanic eruption. Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The plume from the giant mountain moves towards south-east towards the Kamchatka Peninsula, the local branch of Russia’s emergency situations ministry told Itar-tass. The ash cloud poses no hazard to nearby populated localities, the source said. According to the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), the the second highest hazard level the volcano poses to aircraft - aviation orange colour code remains assigned to the giant mountain. Shiveluch is the northernmost and one of the most active volcanoes of Kamchatka. It has been erupting with short intervals for about 10 years. The volcano is located 450 km northeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Its altitude is 3,283 metres. The highest point of the active part of the volcano, called Young Shiveluch is at 2.8 km above sea level. The diameter of the volcano base is 45-50 km. The total area - at least 1,300 square km. The nearest settlement - Klyuchi, is located at a distance of 50 km from the foot of the volcano. The previous periods of the volcano activity intensification had been recorded in 1980-1981 and in 1993-1995, respectively. The most recent eruption of the giant mount that was assessed by scientists as catastrophic was observed in 1964. During the recent strong activity on May 13, 2014, the volcano spewed ash to the height between seven and ten kilometres. On following days, scientists noted squeezing lava and growth of lava’s dome as well as collapses of red-hot avalanches. PTI