The Kamchatka Peninsula was momentarily subjected to a code red alert after one of Russia’s most active volcanoes erupted, sending clouds of ash three miles high.
From August 8th to the 15th, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruptions Response Team (KVERT) recorded substantial explosive activity at Ebeko.
The explosions that occurred between 14 and 15 August sent ash plumes 11,483 feet above sea level and traveled southeast, per the volcanologists at Severo-Kurilsk, on nearby Paramushir Island.
Volcanologists said that the Shiveluch volcano started its activity early on August 18th, just after a strong earthquake of 7.0 magnitude hit off the east coast of Kamchatka. At the time, they believed a more powerful quake could happen soon.
A video capturing the ash cloud over Shiveluch was posted by the academy’s Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. It extended to the southeast and east of the volcano for more than 350 miles.
The institute also reported that the Ebeko volcano in the Kuril Islands discharged ash that reached a height of 1.53 miles. The report did not state if the earthquake was the direct cause of the volcanic outbursts.
According to the KVERT, all aircraft in the region were momentarily alerted by a code red ash cloud warning. No commercial aircraft travel was impacted, and aviation infrastructure was unharmed, according to an independent investigation.
Russian geologists have issued a warning that the local tremors may be an indication of a more powerful earthquake in southern Kamchatka. A magnitude close to 9.0 could happen. According to Russian emergency services, the earthquake hit at a depth of 4 miles below the sea floor.
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is a port city with around 181,000 inhabitants. According to Russian media outlets, its citizens have experienced some of the heaviest shaking they have felt in a long time.
Ebeko is a group consisting of three peak craters that run in a south/south-west, north/north-east direction near a series of five volcanic cones in the Kuril Islands, situated on Paramushir Island to the north. The eruptions, which have been described as moderate to modest blasts accompanied by intense venting activity, have been going on since the late 1700s.
