MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. The Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano on Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula started to erupt following the strongest earthquake to hit the region since 1952 earlier in the day, the regional branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Service reported.

"Klyuchevskaya Sopka is erupting right now," reads the report, which includes a photo of the eruption.

In addition, researchers have recorded molten lava flows along the western slope of the volcano. Explosions and bright glow can be seen above the volcano in photos posted on the service’s Telegram channel.

The Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano is Eurasia’s highest active volcano. It has a regular cone shape with a 700-meter-wide crater on top. About 80 secondary blast craters and cinder cones are located on its slopes. The volcano is situated 30 kilometers from the settlement of Klyuchi in the Ust-Kamchatcky District, which has a population of about 4,500.

A magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday morning. According to the regional Health Ministry, the quake caused casualties. The regional authorities established a crisis center to coordinate response activities. The port of Severo-Kurilsk and a fishing enterprise were flooded in the Sakhalin Region.