6 days ago
Ring of Fire volcano erupts for the first time for 600 years
Hiyah Zaidi Published August 5, 2025 3:29pm Link is copied Comments The megaquake that struck last week has led to a volcano erupting for the first time in 600 years, an expert says. The Krasheninnikov Volcano in Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, which sits in the Ring of Fire, erupted into life on August 3, sending a plume of ash 3.7 miles (6 km) into the sky. No one was hurt, but the event was called historic. So, what happened? (Picture: Getty Images) In late July, the sixth-strongest earthquake ever recorded hit Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. The quake was so strong it triggered tsunami warnings around the world, which affected the coasts of the US, parts of East Asia, parts of South America and New Zealand. The tremor reached a volcano in the Kamchatka region, and possibly contributed to this dormant volcano awakening (Picture: Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images) One expert, Dr Alexey Ozerov, director of the Russian Institute of Volcanic and Seismic Sciences, told the Daily Mail there was a direct connection between the powerful earthquake and these eruptions. He said: 'We associate the eruptions with the earthquake, which activated magmatic centres, and "pumped" additional energy into them' (Picture: Sheldovitsky Artem Igorevich / IViS / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images) Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti: 'This is the first historically confirmed eruption of Krasheninnikov Volcano in 600 years.' And the team reported that clouds of ash travelled 46 miles from the blast. Around nine hours after the eruption, KVERT issued an aviation 'red alert' warning of significant levels of ash being sent into the atmosphere (Picture: Sheldovitsky Artem Igorevich / IViS / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images) CNN reports that in the Telegram channel of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Girina said that Krasheninnikov's last lava effusion took place in 1463, plus or minus 40 years, and no eruption has taken place since. Today (August 5), the channel reports that the volcano is still erupting, with emissions reaching six kilometers, and warns that emissions can reach up to 8 kilometers. The volcano has been assigned an orange (high) aviation hazard code (Picture: Getty) There have been no reports of injuries, and the local Nature Reserve said: 'The volcano's surroundings are volcanic wastelands, slag and lava fields without dense vegetation. There is currently no threat of a natural fire. The volcano's condition is being monitored. There is no threat to the lives of the reserve's employees, infrastructure or populated areas. Ash fall from the erupting volcano is observed in some areas of the Kronotsky Reserve' (Picture: Getty) There is an exceptionally high density of active volcanoes in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula as it sits directly above the Ring of Fire, which is a 25,000-mile chain of volcanoes that stretches around the Pacific Ocean. The area is home to over 425 volcanoes, making up 75% of all active volcanic sites on Earth. This also includes some of the most destructive volcanoes ever to erupt, including Krakatoa, Mount Tambora, and Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (Picture: Metro)
