Kamchatka quake may have caused volcano's eruption after 600 years, Russia says

The overnight eruption of the Krasheninnikov Volcano in Kamchatka, its first in 600 years, may be connected to the huge earthquake that rocked Russia's Far East last week, Russia's RIA state news agency and scientists reported on Sunday.

"This is the first historically confirmed eruption of Krasheninnikov Volcano in 600 years," RIA cited Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, as saying.

She added that the eruption may be connected to the earthquake on Wednesday that triggered tsunami warnings as far away as French Polynesia and Chile, and was followed by an eruption of Klyuchevskoy, the most active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

On the Telegram channel of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Girina said that Krasheninnikov's last lava effusion took place on 1463 - plus/minus 40 years - and no eruption has been known since.

The Kamchatka branch of Russia's ministry for emergency services said that an ash plume rising up to 6,000 meters (3.7 miles) has been recorded following the volcano's eruption. The volcano itself stands at 1,856 metres.

"The ash cloud has drifted eastward, toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path," the ministry said on Telegram.

The eruption of the volcano has been assigned an orange aviation code, indicating a heightened risk to aircraft, the ministry said.