PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY, Russia — One of Russia’s most active volcanoes has erupted, spewing plumes of ash 5 kilometers (3 miles) into the sky over the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula and briefly triggering a “code red” warning for aircraft.
The Shiveluch volcano began sputtering shortly after a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck off Kamchatka’s east coast early Sunday, according to volcanologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences. They warned that another, even more potent earthquake may be on the way.
The academy’s Institute of Volcanology and Seismology released a video showing the ash cloud over Shiveluch. It stretched over 490 kilometers (304 miles) east and southeast of the volcano.
The Ebeko volcano located on Kuril Islands also spewed ash 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) high, the institute said. It did not explicitly say whether the earthquake touched off the eruptions.
A “code red” ash cloud warning briefly put all aircraft in the area on alert, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team reported. A separate report on Sunday carried by the official Tass news agency said that no commercial flights had been disrupted and there was no damage to aviation infrastructure.
The tremors in the area may be a prelude to an even stronger earthquake in southeastern Kamchatka, Russian scientists warned. The Institute of Volcanology said a potential second quake could come “within 24 hours” with a magnitude approaching 9.0.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from Sunday’s earthquake, which struck at a depth of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) under the sea bed with the epicenter 108 kilometers (67 miles) southeast of the nearest city, according to Russian emergency officials.
Russian news outlets cited residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a port city of more than 181,000 people that sits across a bay from an important Russian submarine base, reporting some of the strongest shaking “in a long time.”
On Nov. 4, 1952, a magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii.
pted a tsunami warning that was later lifted.
The earthquake occurred 18 miles (29 kilometers) below the surface and its epicenter was about 63 miles (102 kilometers) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is a port city of more than 181,000 people surrounded by volcanoes and sits across a bay from an important Russian submarine base.
The U.S. National Weather Service's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu initially warned that hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts within 300 miles (480 kilometers) of the earthquake epicenter, but later announced the threat had ended.
The center said minor sea level fluctuations could occur in some coastal areas near the earthquake site for several hours.