Earthquake in Kamchatka triggers volcano to erupt, spewing ash 6 km high.
The director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences noted that seismic activity frequently affects volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
According to TASS on July 31, a strong underground earthquake on July 30 in Kamchatka caused ash to erupt to a height of up to 6 km from the Klyuchevskoy volcano.
"At the Klyuchevskoy volcano, in response to a strong earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale, ash plumes were recorded rising to a height of 6 km above the crater," said Alexey Ozerov, Director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
According to Ozerov, volcanic eruptions used to be weak, although volcanic ash would rise to a height of 200-300 meters and a small amount of ash would be ejected. But here, the amount of ash ejected immediately reached 6 kilometers.
Scientists note that seismic activity frequently affects the Kamchatka volcano. Previously, on July 20th, following an earthquake on the Avachinsky volcano, emissions were recorded at an altitude of 200-300m, therefore, tourists are advised not to climb the mountain.
According to Ilya Bolshakov, a senior researcher at the Department of Geology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, experts are almost unanimous in their opinion that, with a high probability, this earthquake is the final conditional phase in the development of seismic events that have occurred in this area over the past year.
The expert community believes that distinct and significant aftershocks will occur over an extended period, possibly lasting for weeks.
He noted that, according to experts, particularly staff of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Bureau of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the intensity of the aftershock could reach 7.5 on the Richter scale.
"This aftershock was weaker than the main one, but it was still quite strong, easily felt by humans, and capable of causing a weak tsunami. However, we can breathe a sigh of relief; no aftershocks stronger than those that occurred are expected," Bolshakov added.
On the morning of July 30th, a strong earthquake struck off the coast of Kamchatka. This was the strongest earthquake since 1952. According to authorities, the earthquake measured 8.8 on the Richter scale. The Kamchatka branch of the United Geophysical Agency of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported the earthquake as measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale. The highest alert level was declared in Kamchatka. A state of emergency was declared in the North Kurilsky District of the Sakhalin Region due to the earthquake and tsunami.
The earthquake also triggered a tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, and authorities in Japan, the United States, and the Philippines issued tsunami warnings.
