Moscow: A volcano in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula erupted Sunday for the first time in six centuries, authorities said, sending a massive ash plume eastward toward the Pacific Ocean. The regional office of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry reported that the Krasheninnikov volcano, located in the country's Far East, saw an eruption plume rise to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet), citing data from the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT).

According to Anadolu Agency, there are no populated areas along the path of the ash cloud, and the ministry stated on Telegram that no ashfall had been reported in nearby settlements. Additionally, no tourist groups were currently in the area, and the 1,856-meter (6,089-foot) volcano has now been assigned an "orange" aviation hazard code. This code signals heightened risk to aircraft due to volcanic ash in the atmosphere, prompting authorities to advise against traveling to the area or attempting to climb the volcano.

Olga Girina, head of KVERT, noted that this is the first historical eruption of the Krasheninnikov volcano in 600 years, as reported by Russian state news agency RIA. Girina suggested that the eruption might be linked to a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck off Kamchatka's coast last Wednesday, which triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, including in Chile.

The Russian Academy of Sciences reported that the earthquake was the strongest in the region since 1952. On the same day, the academy also noted an eruption at Klyuchevskoy volcano, one of the most active in Eurasia, located about 160 kilometers (99.4 miles) north of Krasheninnikov.