A massive earthquake off the coast of Russia has put the country on alert. As per the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (ESMC), an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 struck off the east coast of Russia's Kamchatka region on Saturday.

The earthquake proceeded to trigger a volcano eruption and tsunami warning.

As per the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center, a tsunami threat from the Kamchatka earthquake was imminent. However, as per Kamchatka branch of Russia's emergency ministry, there was no threat of tsunami.

The massive earthquake, which was measured at magnitude 7.0 by the United States Geological Survey, was followed by several aftershocks ranging from 3.9 to 5.0 on the Richter Scale.

As per state-run news agency TASS, the earthquake also triggered a volcano eruption. State media reported that

Russia’s Shiveluch volcano erupted due to the tremors and produced an ash-column as high as eight kilometres.

“According to visual evaluations, the ash column is rising as high as 8 kilometers (5 miles) above the sea level,” reported TASS, adding that the volcano had released a gush of lava.

The Shiveluch volcano is around 280 miles from the coastal city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of about 181,000 in the eastern region of Kamchatka.