Kizimen (russian: Кизимен) is an active

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

in the southern part of

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The volcano was in a dormant state since an eruption in 1929, but on 2 September 2009 it was reported by Georgina Cooper for the Reuters news agency that the crater lake temperature had risen 10 degrees Celsius in a week and plumes of steam were rising from its flanks. The activity continued throughout 2010, with the formation of new

fumaroles A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

reported in November. Seismic activity and ash emission continued to build over the following weeks, and in January 2011 a hotspot was recorded, indicating the presence of lava. In early February 2011 the volcano sent a column of ash several kilometres high. In April 2011, it was reported that the volcanic activity and ash were threatening the endangered wild reindeer of the area. On 31 December 2012, following a 24-hour period of some 357 earthquakes reported under the volcano, Kizimen was raised to 'orange alert' status. An eruption was reported on 10 January 2013, with the ash plume reaching altitude. On December 7, 2013 activity at Kizimen and nearby Kliuchevskoi significantly increased, continued during November 29 - December 7, prompting KVERT to raise the Alert Level to Red. Ash plumes rose to altitudes of 5.5–6 km (18,000-19,700 ft) a.s.l. and drifted more than 212 km NE and over 1,000 km E. According to a news article, a warning to aircraft was issued for the area around the volcanoes. Video showed gas-and-steam activity, and satellite images detected a daily weak thermal anomaly. On December 9, the Alert Level was lowered to Green when the eruptions stopped. The volcano is not well understood, and research has indicated that the volcano could erupt in a similar fashion to the famous 1980 eruption of

Mount St. Helens Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...

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* * Mountains of the Kamchatka Peninsula Volcanoes of the Kamchatka Peninsula Active volcanoes Stratovolcanoes of Russia Holocene stratovolcanoes {{KamchatkaKrai-geo-stub

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