‘Orange’ aviation code assigned to Kamchatka’s Shiveluch volcano spewing ash

The Shiveluch volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula has spewed ash to an altitude of 5.5 kilometers above sea level, the press service of the emergencies ministry’s regional department reported on Thursday

"According to video data of the Kamchatka Volcanic Response Team (KVERT), ash fall has been registered on Shiveluch," it said, noting that there were no settlements on the path of the ash cloud.

The ash cloud has moved southeast of the volcano. No ash fall has been fixed in local settlements. No tourist groups are reported in the area at the moment.

An ‘orange’ aviation alert code has been assigned to the volcano, second after the highest — red code, warning about the hazard eruptions may pose to aircraft flying on local and international routes. Travel agencies have cautioned against organizing excursions to the area.

Shiveluch is among the most active volcanoes on the Kamchatka peninsula. It occasionally emits steam, gas and ash.

The volcno is located some 450 kilometers (280) miles to the northeast of the Kamchatka Peninsula’s largest city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchhatsky with the population of over 181,600. However, the settlement of Klyuchi is located at the distance of about 45 kilometers from the volcano, which had been regularly spewing out ash since 1980s.