PETROPAVOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia — Over the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, one of Russia's most active volcanoes erupted, sending ash plumes three miles into the sky and momentarily causing an aircraft "code red" alert.
Volcanologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences report that minutes after a strong 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit off the east coast of Kamchatka early on Sunday, the Shiveluch volcano started to splutter. They alerted people to the possibility of an impending, stronger earthquake.
A video of the ash cloud over Shiveluch was produced by the academy's Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. It extended more than 304 kilometers to the volcano's east and southeast.
According to the institute, ash was also ejected from the 1.5-mile-high Ebeko volcano in the Kuril Islands. It was not made clear whether the eruptions were caused by the earthquake.
The Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team stated that all aircraft in the region were momentarily placed on notice due to a "code red" ash cloud warning. According to a different report published on Sunday by the official Tass news agency, there has been no disruption to commercial flights and no damage to the aviation infrastructure.
Russian geologists have cautioned that the local tremors might be a precursor to a bigger earthquake in southeast Kamchatka. A possible second earthquake with a magnitude of about 9.0 may occur "within 24 hours," according to the Institute of Volcanology.
According to Russian emergency personnel, there were no initial reports of casualties from Sunday's earthquake, which occurred at a depth of 3.7 miles beneath the sea bottom and had its epicenter 67 miles southeast of the closest city.
population of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a port city with about 181,000 population that is situated across a bay from a significant Russian submarine base, were quoted by Russian news sites as saying that they had felt some of the heaviest shaking "in a long time."
A 9.0 magnitude earthquake near Kamchatka on November 4, 1952, created 30-foot waves in Hawaii, although no fatalities were reported.
