Aviation alert issued as two of Kamchatka volcanoes spew ash

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, March 25. /TASS/. The Zhupanovsky and Karymsky volcanoes on the Russian Kamchatka peninsula spewed on Wednesday ash to an altitude of eight and two kilometers above sea level, the Kamchatka Volcanic Response Team (KVERT) reported, saying an aviation alert was issued. The Aviation Color Code has been reset to orange, second after the highest - red code, warning about the hazard eruptions may pose to aircraft. Tourists have also been warned against trips to the area. "The Zhupanovsky volcano, located 70 kilometers from [the regional capital] Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, has emitted ash to an altitude of eight kilometers above sea level," a team’s source said. The plume has spread 40 kilometers north-east, the source said, adding that it was drifting towards the Pacific Ocean. Karymskly has spewed ash to an altitude of two kilometers, the plume spreading 154 kilometers northeast. There is no danger of ash fall to local settlements. Karymsky is one of the most active volcanoes of Kamchatka. Its height is 1,536 metres. The volcano that belongs to the central part of the Eastern volcanic belt of Kamchatka is located 30 kilometres from the Pacific coast and 125 kilometres from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. There are no settlements in close proximity to the volcano. The volcano has been active since January 1996. The Zhupanovsky volcano is located in eastern Kamchatka, some 70 kilometers north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Zhupanovsky is one of the least studied volcanoes in the region despite its proximity to a large city. It is a complex volcano composed of four overlapping cones aligned on a roughly east-west oriented axis, with the highest cone reaching 2,958 meters high, and the lowest one being 2,505 meters high. Read more