One of Russia’s most active volcanoes has erupted following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
The Shiveluch volcano began sputtering shortly after the Kamchatka peninsula, in Russia’s east, was jolted.
Footage shows lava gushing of the crater and ash spewing at least five miles into the skyline, temporarily putting planes on alert.
The ash cloud can be seen spreading over Shiveluch, stretching at least 300 miles east and southeast of the volcano.
Shiveluch is around 280 miles from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a coastal city with a population of about 180,000.
A ‘code red’ for ash briefly put all aircraft in the area on alert, it was reported by the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team.
According to the official Tass news agency, no commercial jets had been disrupted and there was no damage to aviation infrastructure.
It is understood that no one was injured in the earthquake on Sunday, but Russian scientists said there is potential for a second one that could come ‘within 24 hours’ with a magnitude approaching 9.0.
Videos circulating on Telegram show the walls of apartments violently shaking as furniture collapses.
The earthquake struck at a depth of almost four miles under the sea bed with the epicenter 67 miles southeast of the nearest city, according to Russian emergency officials.
It also prompted a tsunami warning that was later lifted.
Russian news outlets cited residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky reporting some of the strongest shaking ‘in a long time.’
In November, 1952, a magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 30-foot waves in Hawaii.
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