PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, May 9 (RIA Novosti) - The Bezymyanny volcano has erupted on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East, a local seismology official said Tuesday.
Alexei Ozerov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said the eruption started at 12.25 p.m. Moscow time (08.25 a.m. GMT) on Tuesday. The eruption does not pose any threat to local population, he said.
"A column of gases and ashes over the crater have reached the altitude of several kilometers...and avalanches of melted debris have been moving down the slope at a speed of about 30km/h (19 mph)," the expert said.
Ozerov said that a cloud of ashes, which is expected to reach the height of 10 km (6 miles) and the diameter of up to 1,000 km (622 miles), had been slowly drifting toward the Pacific Ocean.
"There is a threat to flights along the eastern coast and over of the peninsula," Ozerov said.
