Tsunami risk in Russia's Kamchatka after quake triggers dormant volcano eruption

A powerful earthquake struck Russia's Kuril Islands, sparking tsunami alerts and coinciding with the first eruption in 600 years of Kamchatka’s Krasheninnikov Volcano, raising seismic concerns in the region.

Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services reported that tsunami waves were possible in three coastal areas of Kamchatka following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake near the Kuril Islands. 

"The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore," the ministry said on the Telegram, after the latest seismic activity in the area.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning System and the U.S. Geological Survey both confirmed the quake’s 7.0 magnitude but noted that no official tsunami warning was issued.

Coinciding with the seismic event, Kamchatka’s Krasheninnikov Volcano erupted overnight for the first time in six centuries, according to RIA and Russian volcanologists.

Scientists suggest that both the eruption and the quake could be linked to last week’s major tremor in the region, which also led to tsunami alerts as far as Chile and French Polynesia, and preceded the eruption of Kamchatka’s most active volcano, Klyuchevskoy.

Russian scientists had earlier warned of potential aftershocks in the area. The Kuril Islands form a seismically active chain stretching from Kamchatka’s southern tip.

Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, stated that the Krasheninnikov Volcano last released lava around 1463, give or take 40 years. 

"This is the first historically confirmed eruption of Krasheninnikov Volcano in 600 years," RIA cited Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, as saying.

Following the eruption, an ash plume rose to 6,000 metres, with the cloud drifting eastward over the Pacific Ocean, away from populated zones. The volcano, standing at 1,856 metres, has been assigned an orange aviation code, indicating a heightened risk to aircraft.

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