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A powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake near the Kuril Islands has triggered tsunami warnings for three coastal regions of Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula
Russia Tsunami Alert | File Image
A powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake near the Kuril Islands has triggered tsunami warnings for three coastal regions of Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula, the Ministry for Emergency Services said on Sunday.
Both the Pacific Tsunami Warning System and the US Geological Survey confirmed the strength of the tremor.
While tsunami waves were not expected, Russian authorities advised caution. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the Ministry for Emergency Services said in a message on Telegram.
In a separate yet possibly related development, the long-dormant Krasheninnikov Volcano in Kamchatka erupted overnight for the first time in 600 years, according to Russia’s RIA news agency and regional scientists.
Experts believe the eruption and the earlier quake in Russia’s Far East—which last week prompted tsunami alerts as far as French Polynesia and Chile—may be connected.
That earthquake also preceded the eruption of Klyuchevskoy, the most active volcano in the Kamchatka Peninsula.
“This is the first historically confirmed eruption of Krasheninnikov Volcano in 600 years,” said Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, as quoted by RIA.
Girina added that the last lava flow occurred sometime within 40 years of 1463, with no known eruptions since then.
Following the latest activity, authorities reported an ash plume rising up to 6,000 meters (3.7 miles) into the sky.
“The ash cloud has drifted eastward, toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path,” the emergency ministry stated.
The eruption has been given an orange aviation alert, indicating increased risk for air traffic in the area.
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