The Krasheninnikov volcano in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula erupted overnight for the first time in more than 500 years. The eruption comes just four days after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the geologically turbulent peninsula on July 30.
Hours after the earthquake, 4,754m Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the highest active volcano in Asia, also erupted, spewing lava and ash plumes.
The Krasheninnikov volcano. Photo: volcano.si.edu
Just 1,856m high, Krasheninnikov is a complex of two overlapping stratovolcanoes inside a large caldera on the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. Its last registered eruption was between 1423 and 1503, over 500 years ago. The date of its last eruption varies, depending on sources. Some suggest a last unconfirmed eruption of 1550, but News Pravda reports that Olga Girina, the head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, pegs Krasheninnikov’s last eruption as 600 years ago.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka’s eruption on July 30. Photo: Alexander Piragis via livescience.com
Krasheninnikov has had at least 31 eruptions over the past 10,000 years, but no eruptions were documented until now. The volcano’s activity is primarily known through tephra and lava flow deposits.
This recent eruption began with an ash column reaching five to six kilometers high, and the ash plume extended 75km to the east.
Krasheninnikov from the air. Photo: KVERT
First observed eruption
It’s the first observed eruption of Krasheninnikov, possibly triggered by the recent 8.8 earthquake. That giant quake caused only moderate damage and a few injuries in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands, with one indirect death in Japan when a woman accidentally drove off a cliff during the tsunami evacuation.
Ash towers above the Krasheninnikov volcano today. Photo: Frame of a video by KVERT via Volcaholic
The Krasheninnikov volcano was named after Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov (1711-1755), a Russian explorer, naturalist, and geographer born in Saint Petersburg. He explored Siberia and wrote the first full description of Kamchatka.
The video below shows the recent eruption of Krasheninnikov.
