The Klyuchevskoy volcano on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's far east has started erupting after Wednesday's powerful earthquake in the Pacific, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
The Russian Academy of Sciences reported that the volcano erupted due to the country's biggest earthquake since 1952. In videos published by the academy, lava can be seen flowing down the western side of the mountain.
The Washington Post reported that the earthquake that preceded Klyuchevskoy's eruption was the sixth most powerful tremor reported in the world, at 8.8 magnitude on the Richter scale.
Tsunami warnings were triggered throughout the West Coast of the US, but it was later cancelled for coastal areas of California from the Mexico border. Hawaii also downgraded its warning to an advisory after the mayor of Honolulu advised citizens to move to higher ground.
The shores of Hawaii, California, Oregon, Alaska, and parts of Washington were hit by waves. Hawaii and areas of Coastal California saw rises as high as 1.7 meters.
Tsunami slams into Pacific coastal areas
Klyuchevskoy is Eurasia's highest volcano, standing at 4,750 meters. Tsunami waves struck parts of Kamchatka, where the volcano stands, partially flooding the port and a fish processing plant in the town of Severo-Kurilsk and sweeping vessels from their moorings, regional officials and Russia's emergency ministry said.
The shallow earthquake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard - devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 - was ordered to evacuate.
CNN repored that nearly 2 million people were evacuated from hard-hit parts of Russia and Japan.
Alerts remain in effect for parts of Chile, Colombia, and Easter Island.
Tsunami advisories were lifted in Japan, the Philippines, Guam, and areas of Micronesia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Russia lifted its tsunami warnings for the far-eastern region later, but regional governors noted that emergency services remain on standby.
The Kremlin claimed that the earthquake and the tsunami caused no casualties in an official statement. However, the Russian government did not note the number of people who might have been injured in the aftermath.
“In general, the seismic resistance of the buildings proved itself, so thank God there were no casualties,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.