This follows a 6.5 magnitude quake on Thursday and a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake on July 30 in the same region, which caused a tsunami that flooded Severo-Kurilsk’s port. The Krasheninnikov volcano also erupted for the first time in 450 years.
Kuril Islands: Just days after an earthquake struck Kamchatka, another powerful quake hit Russia’s Kuril Islands on the morning of Sunday, August 3, prompting the issuance of a tsunami warning. A 6.5 magnitude earthquake was recorded east of the Kuril Islands on Thursday morning as well. According to Russian officials, a small tsunami wave of up to 19 centimeters (7.5 inches) could hit the Kamchatka coast following the strong tremors. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) pegged the earthquake at a magnitude of 7.0, while German Research Center for Geosciences labeled the tremor a 6.8. On July 30, a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake and strong aftershocks had affected the region.
The Kamchatka Tsunami Warning and Monitoring Center said that the earthquake in the Pacific Ocean may generate a tsunami wave reaching up to 19 centimeters in the Aleutian municipal district, up to 15 centimeters in the Ust-Kamchatsky municipal district, and up to 3 centimeters in the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky urban district. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Services said on the Telegram messaging app.
A volcano had erupted for the first time in 450 years in Russia’s eastern Kamchatka region after the previous earthquakes. Pictures released by Russian state media show a towering plume of ash spewing from the Krasheninnikov volcano, which last erupted in 1550, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program. The plume is estimated to have reached an altitude of 6,000 metres (19,700 feet).
The 8.8 magnitude quake which struck off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula and was the strongest since 2011 when a magnitude 9.1 quake off Japan caused a tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people. In the recent quake in Russia, a tsunami wave crashed through the port of Severo-Kurilsk and submerged a fishing plant, officials said.