Tsunami Warning Issued After Earthquake, Rare Volcanic Eruption Strike Russia

Russian emergency authorities issued a tsunami warning on Sunday after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck near the Kuril Islands.

The German Research Center for Geosciences initially recorded the quake at magnitude 6.35, later updating it to 6.8.

The US Geological Survey and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center measured the tremor at magnitude 7.0.

According to the Kamchatka Tsunami Warning and Monitoring Center, the resulting tsunami wave is expected to reach up to 19 centimeters in the Aleutian municipal district, 15 centimeters in Ust-Kamchatsky, and 3 centimeters in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Russia’s Emergency Ministry warned residents to stay away from coastal areas, despite the low wave height projections.

“The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on Telegram.

The seismic event occurred just hours after the eruption of the Krasheninnikov Volcano—its first confirmed eruption in 600 years.

Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, told Russia’s RIA news agency that the volcanic activity may be linked to a previous 8.8 magnitude earthquake in the region on July 30.

“This is the first historically confirmed eruption of Krasheninnikov Volcano in 600 years,” Girina said.

She added the eruption “may be connected to the earthquake on Wednesday”, which was also followed by increased activity at Klyuchevskoy, the peninsula’s most active volcano.

Emergency services reported that the ash plume from Krasheninnikov rose to 6,000 meters and drifted east over the Pacific Ocean.

“There are no populated areas along its path,” the ministry confirmed.

The volcano has been assigned an orange aviation warning, signaling elevated risk to aircraft.

The Kuril Islands, a seismically active chain stretching from Kamchatka’s southern tip, remain under close monitoring.

Russian scientists have warned that additional aftershocks are likely in the coming weeks.