YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, June 27 (RIA Novosti, Pyotr Tsyrendorzhiyev) - Mount Ebeko, a volcano on the island of Paramushir, which belongs to the Northern Kuril chain in Russia's Far East, has started emitting vapor and gas for the first time since spring.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's Sakhalin department said vapor and gas emissions had been registered early on Monday morning.

The volcano does not currently pose a danger to Severo-Kurilsk, a town seven kilometers away, as the clouds of vapor and gas that have risen to 200 meters high are moving to the southwest, i.e. in the opposite direction. There is also no hydrogen sulfide in the air, unlike during the last period of activity.

A team of researchers from the Volcanology and Seismology Institute based on the Kamchatka Peninsula is monitoring the volcano.

Scientists said Mt. Ebeko was the most dangerous volcano on the Kuril Islands at the moment. Today, its activity resembles levels last seen in 1998 and 1999. In addition, Mt. Chikurachki, another volcano, has also become more active. Monitoring the latter is difficult as it is located 70km away from the town, but unlike Ebeko it poses no danger whatsoever.

The Mendeleyev, Golovnin, Tyatya, Grozny, Baransky, Chirip, Chikurachki, and Ebeko volcanoes are the most dangerous on the Kuril chain. According to volcano experts, there are 36 active volcanoes on the islands.