The Klyuchevskoy volcano, Europe's highest active, spewed lava and explosions were observed. Photo / Getty Images
The Klyuchevskoy volcano, Europe's highest active, spewed lava and explosions were observed. Photo / Getty Images
A volcano in Russia’s far east erupted on Wednesday, Russian scientists said, hours after a major quake prompted evacuations and tsunami alerts across parts of the Pacific coast.
Eruptions of the Klyuchevskoy volcano – the highest active in Europe and Asia – are quite common, with at least 18 ofthem happening since 2000, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.
“The Klyuchevskoy is erupting right now,” Russia’s Geophysical Survey said on Telegram, posting photos of an orange blaze on top of the 4700m volcano.
“Red-hot lava is observed flowing down the western slope. There is a powerful glow above the volcano and explosions,” it added.
Earlier on Wednesday, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka region.
The tsunami warning in Kamchatka was lifted 11 hours later as the quake causing massive waves had spared the sparsely populated area close to Japan.
No major damage or casualties from its eruptions were ever recorded, with the closest big city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsk located hundreds of kilometres away.
