Dormant Russia volcano erupts for first time in 450 years
MOSCOW (AFP)A volcano erupted for the first time in 450 years in Russia's eastern Kamchatka region, the nation's emergency authority said Sunday, days after one of the strongest earthquakes on record hit the region.Pictures released by Russian state media show a towering plume of ash spewing from the Krasheninnikov volcano, which last erupted in 1550, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.The plume is estimated to have reached an altitude of 6,000 metres, Kamchatka's Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a post on Telegram."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.It came after Klyuchevskoy, another volcano in the region -- the highest active in Europe and Asia -- erupted on Wednesday.Eruptions of Klyuchevskoy are quite common, with at least 18 occurring since 2000, according to the Global Volcanism Program.Both recent eruptions followed one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded, which struck on Wednesday, sparking tsunami warnings and evacuations of millions of people from coastal areas from Japan to Hawaii to Ecuador.The worst damage was seen in Russia, where a tsunami crashed through the port of Severo-Kurilsk and submerged a fishing plant, officials said.
The magnitude 8.8 quake struck off Petropavlovsk on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula and was the strongest since 2011, when a magnitude 9.1 quake off Japan caused a tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Etihad
5 hours ago
- Al Etihad
India deploys rescue teams as flood swamps Himalayan town
5 Aug 2025 14:55 DEHRADUN (AFP)Rescue teams deployed Tuesday to India's Himalayan region after flash floods tore down a mountain valley, appearing to wipe away much of a town, where at least four people were broadcast on Indian media showed a surge of muddy water sweeping away multi-storey apartment blocks in the tourist region of Dharali in Uttarakhand Singh Dhami, Uttarakhand state chief minister, said rescue teams had been deployed "on a war footing".A local disaster official said at least four people were missing, while others warned the number was likely to rise."Luckily, most of the people were at a fair in a safe location," said an official, who asked not to be named since he was not authorised to speak to the army said its first teams had reached the town."A massive mudslide struck Dharali... triggering a sudden flow of debris and water through the settlement," it said the flood was caused by a sudden and intense downpour. "News of heavy damage caused by a cloudburst... is extremely sad and distressing," he were no immediate reports of confirmed India Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning for the area, and recorded "extremely heavy" rainfall of around 21 centimetres (eight inches) in isolated parts of floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity. The UN's World Meteorological Organisation said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a "distress signal" of what is to come as climate change makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable.
Gulf Today
6 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Beijing issues new storm warning after deadly floods
Beijing issued its highest alert for rainstorms on Monday, days after deadly deluges swept parts of the Chinese capital and triggered a rare apology from under-prepared officials. The municipal weather service announced a red alert -- the highest in a four-tier system -- forecasting heavy rain from noon on Monday until Tuesday morning. Most parts of the city are expected to see 100 millimetres (four inches) of rain during a six-hour period overnight, but outlying areas could experience between 150mm and 200mm, authorities said. "There is an extremely high risk of flash floods, mudslides, landslips and other natural disasters in mountain areas," the Beijing government said on an official social media account. "Citizens are advised not to go outside unless necessary," it said. Tens of thousands of people in northern China were evacuated as torrential rains wreaked havoc in parts of the north since last month. Beijing was struck hard last week, when floods in its northern suburbs killed at least 44 people and left nine missing, according to official figures. Rescuers help evacuate residents from a flooded street in Rongjiang. File/AFP Some 31 fatalities occurred at an elderly care centre in Miyun district, prompting a local official to admit "gaps" in disaster readiness. Residents in flood-hit areas told AFP reporters at the scene that they had been surprised at the speed with which the rushing water inundated homes and devastated villages. The city water authority on Monday again listed Miyun as highly vulnerable to flooding, alongside Fangshan, Mentougou and Huairou districts, according to state news agency Xinhua. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat. China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense. But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060. Agence France-Presse
Dubai Eye
a day ago
- Dubai Eye
Russia cancels tsunami warning for Kamchatka after quake
Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services lifted a tsunami warning for the Kamchatka Peninsula on Sunday after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. The ministry had said earlier on the Telegram messaging app that expected wave heights were low, but warned people to move away from the shore. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, which gauged the quake at 7.0, said, however, there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The US Geological Survey also said the earthquake was at a magnitude of 7. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov Volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia's RIA state news agency and scientists reported on Sunday. Both incidents could be connected to the huge earthquake that rocked Russia's Far East last week, that triggered tsunami warnings as far away as French Polynesia and Chile, and was followed by an eruption of Klyuchevskoy, the most active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Kuril Islands stretch from the southern tip of Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian scientists had warned on Wednesday that strong aftershocks were possible in the region in the next several weeks. "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. On the Telegram channel of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Girina said that Krasheninnikov's last lava effusion took place within 40 years of 1463 and no eruption has been known since. The Kamchatka branch of Russia's ministry for emergency services said that an ash plume rising up to 6,000 meters has been recorded following the volcano's eruption. The volcano itself stands at 1,856 metres. "The ash cloud has drifted eastward, toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path," the ministry said on Telegram. The eruption of the volcano has been assigned an orange aviation code, indicating a heightened risk to aircraft, the ministry said.
