600-year-old dormant volcano spews 6km-high ash column after earthquake

Scientists say the volcano erupted after a long period of "dormancy" possibly due to the effects of a strong earthquake that occurred in the area a few days earlier.

According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Services in Kamchatka, at around 2:50 a.m. local time (11:50 p.m. August 2, Vietnam time), a column of ash up to 6 kilometers high was recorded after the eruption of the Krasheninnikov volcano. The ash cloud then drifted eastward, towards the Pacific Ocean .

The announcement said that although there were no populated areas along the path of the ash plume, an orange alert had been issued for aviation activities.

Located about 200km north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and 13km south of Lake Kronotskoye, Krasheninnikov is part of the eastern Kamchatka Peninsula volcanic field. According to the Russian Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Krasheninnikov's last recorded lava eruption was around 1463, plus or minus about 40 years.

Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcano Eruption Response Team, said the eruption could be linked to the powerful earthquake that struck on July 30, which triggered tsunami warnings as far away as Chile, and the subsequent eruption of Klyuchevskoy, the most active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Local authorities have advised residents and tourists to avoid traveling within 10km of the peaks of volcanoes on the Kamchatka peninsula.