Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Volcanic eruption affects Kamchatka villagers

A village on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East is under ash fallout, as the Bezymyanny volcano, which is 25 miles from the village, is continuing spewing ashes up to an altitude of 15 kilometers (9 miles), local seismologists said Monday.

The Bezymyanny volcano erupted Sunday, a spokesman said. He added that the eruption resulted in a plume, stretching for up to 700 kilometers (435 miles) to the Pacific.

Official have instructed local residents to avoid leaving their homes, because particles of volcanic ash, spread in the air, could cause poisoning and serious diseases.

Experts said the plume poses no immediate threat to local residents, but that there is a danger to aircraft flying near the mountain.

According to experts, there are more that 150 volcanoes on Kamchatka, 29 of them are active. The Bezymyanny volcano is about 3,000 m high, it erupts once or twice a year, which can last from several hours to several days. The volcano spews ashes to a height of 10 km.


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