For the first time in nearly half a millennium, the Krasheninnikov volcano has erupted in Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula – a dramatic geological event just days after the region was rattled by one of the most powerful earthquakes in its recorded history.
Russia’s emergency management agency confirmed the rare eruption on Sunday, breaking a silence that had lasted since the mid-16th century. According to historical records maintained by the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program, the volcano’s last known activity dates back to the year 1550.
Images released through state-run media outlets captured a towering column of ash—dark, immense, and surreal—shooting skyward from the long-dormant mountain. Authorities from Kamchatka’s Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that the ash plume reached an estimated altitude of 6,000 meters (approximately 19,700 feet), lofting debris into the upper atmosphere and triggering aviation warnings across the area.
“The plume is spreading eastward from the volcano toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path, and no ashfall has been recorded in inhabited localities,” the ministry said.
The volcano has been assigned an “orange” aviation hazard code, the ministry added, meaning flights in the area may be disrupted.
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The eruption of Krasheninnikov was not an isolated event. Just days earlier, Klyuchevskoy — the tallest active volcano in both Europe and Asia — had violently stirred to life, sending molten material into the sky on Wednesday. Unlike Krasheninnikov’s rare awakening, Klyuchevskoy is a frequent participant in Kamchatka’s volatile geology, having erupted no fewer than 18 times since the turn of the millennium, according to data from the Global Volcanism Program.
Both volcanic events came on the heels of an exceptionally powerful earthquake — one of the strongest ever recorded — which struck off the coast of Petropavlovsk in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The magnitude 8.8 tremor, which struck on Wednesday, triggered tsunami warnings across vast swaths of the Pacific, prompting evacuations from Japan to Hawaii, and as far away as Ecuador.
Russia bore the brunt of the impact. In Severo-Kurilsk, a tsunami surge tore through the coastal port town, overwhelming a fish processing facility and leaving widespread devastation in its wake, according to local officials.
The quake is now being described as the region’s most powerful since the 2011 catastrophe off the coast of Japan — a magnitude 9.1 disaster that unleashed a devastating tsunami and claimed over 15,000 lives.