Russian volcano explodes for the first time in more than 500 years

A volcano in the far east of Russia has erupted for the first time in more than 500 years, which experts say could be linked to last week's massive earthquake.

The Krashinnikov volcano in Kamchatka cast a cloud of ash up to six miles high at night.

“There are no threats for populated areas”, Russia's Emergency Ministry said, the BBC writes.

Hours later, another major earthquake in Russia led to tsunami warnings in three areas of the peninsula. Both events could be linked to a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit a similar area last week, which prompted tsunami warnings to reach French Polynesia and Chile.