Volcano erupts after earthquake in Russia’s Far East, scientists warn of stronger quake
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 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 and Seismology said a potential second earthquake could come “within 24 hours” with a magnitude approaching 9.0.
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 November 4, 1952, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-metre (30ft) waves in Hawaii.