Krasheninnikov Volcano Erupts After 500 Years, Sends Ash 6km Into Sky

Russia (TDI): On Sunday morning, after more than 500 years, a volcano erupted in far eastern Russia that threw up an ash plume up to six kilometers (3.7 miles) high overnight.

Experts have linked the Krasheninnikov Volcano in Kamchatka to the recent massive earthquake in Russia that occurred last week and also triggered tsunamis across the Pacific Ocean in several countries, and led to mass evacuations.

About 9.5 hours after the eruption began, KVERT issued an aviation red alert warning aircraft of “significant emission of ash into the atmosphere.”

Hours after the volcano, another large earthquake occurred that led to tsunami warnings in three different locations.

It is reported by Russia’s emergency ministry that the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the Kuril Islands on Sunday could lead to waves of up to 18cm.

It also advised people in Kamchatka that three different areas are under threat and thus they “must still move away from the shore”, despite the low wave heights.

According to the head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), the last eruption of the volcano in Krasheninnikov was in the 15th century.

The Kamchatka Peninsula is remote but lies in the “Pacific Ring of Fire” – so called due to the high number of earthquakes and volcanoes.

Photos were shared by the Russian Institute of Volcanology and Seismology that showed an ash cloud rising from the volcano, captured from a helicopter as response teams surveyed the scene.

Krasheninnikov has had at least 31 eruptions over the past 10,000 years, but no eruptions were documented until now. The volcano’s activity is primarily known through tephra and lava flow deposits.

KVERT has reported that volcanic activity decreased later on Sunday, which also downgraded the aviation alert to orange, but as of Monday, the eruption is still ongoing, and KVERT has also warned about ash explosions that can reach up to 10 kilometers at any time.