A submarine volcano has erupted near the South Sea island of Vanuatu spewing ash and gas into the air. Planes and ships have been ordered to avoid the area.

East Epi, as the underwater volcano consisting of several volcanic cones and a caldera is called, has been rumbling since early Wednesday morning (local time).

The volcano is located north of Efate, the main island of Vanuatu, almost 1,242 miles northeast of Australia. Eruptions last occurred there in 2004.

There is no tsunami warning in place although local authorities have warned of possible earthquakes stemming from the eruption.

Just a year ago, the massive eruption of the submarine volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai near the South Sea kingdom of Tonga made headlines around the world.

The eruption in mid-January 2022 fired a gigantic cloud of ash and gas dozens of kilometres high into the atmosphere.

Researchers later determined that it was the highest ash cloud ever recorded on Earth: At 58 kilometres, the eruption column even penetrated the third layer of Earth's atmosphere, the mesosphere.

The colossal eruption triggered tsunami waves and covered parts of Tonga with a thick layer of ash. The blast wave from the eruption rolled around the entire earth several times.