PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, September 23 (RIA Novosti, Oksana Guseva) - Mount Shiveluch, a volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East, has started erupting, a source in the local seismological center said Friday.

The first gas and ash eruptions from the volcano were registered Thursday and reached 7.5 kilometers above sea level.

A 15km-long stream of lava descended the slopes of the volcano on Friday at 3.00 a.m. Moscow time (11 p.m. Thursday GMT).

The last powerful eruption of the Shiveluch volcano, which is about 3,200 meters (10,200 feet) high, came in February. Then a 22km-long lava stream destroyed a nearby seismological station.

The western part of the volcano dome collapsed after the February eruption, and a cloud of ash reached the Sea of Okhotsk.