Kamchatka volcano reactivates

Shiveluch, Kamchatka's northernmost active volcano, has erupted a 8,000-meter-high pillar of ash.

The eruption, which took place at 7.26 a.m. local time and which was accompanied by an earthquake that lasted 4.5 minutes, produced an ash cloud, which could be seen at a height of about 1,000 m above the crater for more than an hour, reported the Kamchatka seismological expedition.

A photo from a spacecraft provided by the USA's Alaska-based volcanological observatory shows a clearly discernible extensive thermal anomaly. Seismological stations are registering spasmodic volcanic quakes.

Shiveluch (3,283 m high) reactivated after a long calm this January.

At the moment, the volcano is not dangerous for the settlements of the peninsula. Its activity only threatens the peninsula's transport communications with mudflows.