Dormant Russia volcano erupts for first time in 450 yrs

A volcano erupted for the first time in 450 years in Russia's eastern Kamchatka region, the nation's emergency authority said yesterday, days after one of the strongest earthquakes on record hit the region.

Pictures released by Russian state media show a towering plume of ash spewing from the Krasheninnikov volcano, which last erupted in 1550, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.

The plume is estimated to have reached an altitude of 6,000 metres, Kamchatka's Ministry of Emergency Situations said.