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. (Image: Getty Image)
Russia's Far East was rocked by a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake near the Kuril Islands on Sunday, prompting an immediate tsunami warning from the Ministry for Emergency Services. The seismic jolt was closely followed by the historic eruption of the Krasheninnikov Volcano in Kamchatka, marking its first confirmed activity in over 600 years.
Though wave heights were projected to be low, emergency authorities issued an urgent advisory for residents to vacate coastal areas in three regions of Kamchatka.
"The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore," the ministry warned on its Telegram channel.
While Russian emergency officials issued the alert as a precautionary measure, global agencies presented a different view. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, which also recorded the earthquake at magnitude 7.0, stated there was no tsunami warning in place. The US Geological Survey confirmed the quake’s magnitude at 7 but did not raise any alerts either.
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The discrepancy between local and international advisories highlights a common challenge in real-time disaster response—balancing caution with credibility.
In a rare and dramatic geological event, the Krasheninnikov Volcano—dormant since at least 1463—erupted overnight. Scientists at the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported the first historically confirmed eruption in over six centuries.
"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 on Telegram, “Krasheninnikov's last lava effusion took place within 40 years of 1463, and no eruption has been known since.”
Following the eruption, the Kamchatka branch of Russia's emergency services detected an ash plume rising up to 6,000 meters (approximately 3.7 miles).
"The ash cloud has drifted eastward, toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path," the ministry stated on Telegram.
Officials have assigned the eruption an orange aviation code, signaling a high risk to aircraft due to ash particles in the sky.
Experts suggest that the two major incidents—a strong earthquake and a volcanic eruption—may be interconnected, potentially as part of a larger seismic shift along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Last week, another powerful earthquake in the region triggered tsunami warnings as far as Chile and French Polynesia and caused the Klyuchevskoy volcano, Kamchatka’s most active, to erupt.
Scientists had warned on Wednesday that strong aftershocks could occur in the Kuril Islands region in the coming weeks. That forecast now seems increasingly likely to materialize. As Russia monitors ongoing seismic activity in the area, residents and travelers are urged to remain alert to further warnings and advisories.
