Ancient Krasheninnikov Volcano Awakens After 450 Years Amidst Powerful Earthquake

A volcano in the eastern Kamchatka region of Russia erupted for the first time in 450 years, according to the nation’s emergency services on Sunday, just days after one of the most powerful earthquakes in history struck the area.

Images provided by Russian state media depict a massive column of ash rising from the Krasheninnikov volcano, which last erupted back in 1550, as noted by the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.

The ash plume has been reported to reach heights of approximately 6,000 meters, as stated by the Kamchatka Ministry of Emergency Situations in a post on Telegram.

«The ash cloud is drifting eastward from the volcano towards the Pacific Ocean. There are no inhabited regions in its trajectory, and no ashfall has been observed in populated areas,» the ministry reported.

The volcano has been classified with an «orange» aviation hazard level, indicating potential disruptions to flights in the vicinity.

This eruption followed that of Klyuchevskoy, another volcano in the region—recognized as the tallest active volcano in Europe and Asia—which erupted on Wednesday.

Klyuchevskoy eruptions are relatively frequent, with at least 18 recorded since the year 2000, according to the Global Volcanism Program.

Both eruptions occurred following one of the strongest earthquakes ever noted, which took place on Wednesday, prompting tsunami warnings and the evacuation of millions from coastal regions stretching from Japan to Hawaii to Ecuador.

The most significant damage was reported in Russia, where a tsunami hit the port of Severo-Kurilsk, submerging a fishing facility, according to officials.

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka peninsula and is the strongest earthquake since a magnitude 9.1 quake off Japan in 2011, which resulted in a tsunami that claimed over 15,000 lives.