Eruption of Russian volcano spews ash

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PETROPAVLOVSK, Russia, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- A volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, one of 29 active volcanoes in the area, is erupting and sending ash plumes to a height of 3.7 miles, officials said.

A representative of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said a swarm of earthquakes had accompanied the eruption of the Kizimen volcano, RIA Novosti reported Thursday.

"Seismologists registered about 200 local tremors in the vicinity of the volcano over the past 24 hours," the spokesman said.

The eruption has caused falling ash in populated areas on the peninsula including Petropavlovsk, where 60 percent of Kamchatka residents live.

Kizimen's last eruption with lava flows occurred at the end of the 1920s.

The volcano again became active last June and a new eruption began in December.

Scientists say they have not ruled out the possibility the volcano might produce lava flows in this eruption.