The Asian was all right, standing near when it erupted (6)
I believe the answer is:
korean
'the asian' is the definition.
(someone from North or South Korea)
'all right standing near when it erupted' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'right' could be 'r' (common abbreviation) and 'r' is present in the answer.
'when' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'koan' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'was' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for korean that I've seen before include "From Seoul or Pyongyang?" , "Citizen of divided country" , "Asian national" , "One is from Seoul, say" , "Asian language" .)