Volcanic bombs flew as far as seven kilometers (four miles) away from the irate Karymsky volcano, which had fired six-kilometer (20,000-foot) plumes of ash and debris into the air, local scientists said.

Karymsky is a young volcano, having been formed only 6,000 years ago, and had been erupting almost non-stop since then, adding some 40 meters to its 1,536-meter height since its last major eruption in 1996.

Despite the eruption's violence, the local populace is fairly safe from the eruption, with the nearby city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky some 100 kilometers (65 miles) away from its slopes, scientists noted.

However, major earthquakes accompanying the eruption could prove dangerous, volcanologists added.

Such eruptions are frequent occurrences on the almost-uninhabited Kamchatka where there are some 120 volcanos, 28 of them active.

TERRA.WIRE