Dormant Russia Volcano Erupts for First Time in 450 Years

A dormant volcano in Russia’s eastern Kamchatka region erupted for the first time in 450 years, the country’s emergency authority reported Sunday, just days after one of the strongest earthquakes on record struck the area.

Images released by Russian authorities show a towering ash plume rising from the Krasheninnikov volcano, which last erupted in 1550, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.

The ash cloud reportedly reached an altitude of approximately 6,000 metres (19,700 feet), the Kamchatka Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram. The plume is moving eastward towards the Pacific Ocean, with no populated areas along its path and no ashfall reported in inhabited locations.

The volcano has been assigned an “orange” aviation hazard code, indicating potential disruptions to flights in the vicinity.

This eruption followed a recent event at Klyuchevskoy, another volcano in the region and the highest active volcano in Europe and Asia, which erupted on Wednesday. Eruptions of Klyuchevskoy are frequent, with at least 18 recorded since 2000.

Both eruptions occurred shortly after a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The quake, one of the strongest ever recorded, triggered tsunami warnings and evacuations across coastal regions from Japan to Hawaii and Ecuador.

In Russia, the tsunami caused significant damage, flooding the port of Severo-Kurilsk and submerging a fishing plant. The earthquake was the strongest in the region since the 2011 magnitude 9.1 quake off Japan, which resulted in a devastating tsunami and more than 15,000 deaths.