PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, September 7 (RIA Novosti, Oksana Guseva) - Mount Shevutich, a volcano on Russia's far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, is spewing gas and ash to heights of up to 5,000 feet, a member of a local research team said Wednesday.

The expert said satellite images that had been provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory showed clear signs of a thermal anomaly in the area.

According to the Kamchatka branch of a federal body responsible for monitoring seismic activity, residents of the nearby regions might face ashfall and mud slides from the slope of Mt. Shiveluch. Air traffic in the vicinity might also be endangered.

No seismic monitoring is currently being conducted at Mt. Shiveluch because a February eruption of the volcano destroyed a research base and a monitoring station.

The last eruption on February 27 destroyed the western part of Mt. Shiveluch's crater. An ash cloud about 150 kilometers (90 miles) wide spread over 700 kilometers (430 miles) to the west of the volcano across Kamchatka and the Okhotsk Sea.