Kamchatka's Klyuchevskoi volcano spews ash 10 km high

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY. Aug 8 (Interfax) - The Klyuchevskoi volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula spewed ash up to ten kilometers above sea level on Friday, Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) of the Volcanology and Seismology Institute of the Russian Academy of Science's Far Eastern branch said in a statement.

"The explosive and effusive eruption is continuing at the top of the volcano. KVERT satellite data show that ash was spewed up to 9-10 kilometers above sea level. An ash cloud of 515 kilometers keeps moving south-eastward of the volcano. The movement of lava flows and ash discharges are continuing from the crater at the top of the volcano," the statement said.

Ash can be spewed up to 15 kilometers above sea level at any moment, it said. The ongoing activity may affect international and low-altitude aircraft.

The Kamchatka branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Unified Geophysical Service said earlier that the Klyuchevskoi volcano's eruption was expected to intensify in the coming days.

Klyuchevskoi is a 4,850-meter-tall active volcano in Kamchatka's east. It is located 360 kilometers from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The Klyuchi village sits on the volcano's slope 30 kilometers from the summit. Klyuchevskoi is one of the world's most active volcanoes.