Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Russia's east coast, sparks volcano eruption

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Sunday morning struck off Russia's east coast that sparked a volcano with a column of ash miles into the air, according to state-run TASS.

The earthquake struck at 7:10 a.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey .

The quake's epicenter was about 63 miles from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and had a depth of about 18 miles.

Shiveluch volcano, with a height of 10,770 feet, is around 280 miles from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a coastal city with a population of about 180,000 in Russia's eastern region of Kamchatka.

The ash column was rising as high 5 miles above the sea level with a gush of lava, TASS reported .

Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team issued a "red" code warning due to the significant amount of ash in the atmosphere.

No injuries of people were reported, TASS said . Also, the Russian Emergencies Ministry did not issue a tsunami warning due to the tremor.

Several lower-magnitude aftershocks were recorded.

The peninsula is part of the Ring of Fire in most of the Pacific Ocean.

Shiveluch is one of the biggest and most active of a line of volcanoes in the Kamchatka Peninsula.