No tsunami threat to Hawaii from 7-magnitude earthquake near Russia’s Kuril Islands, officials say

Hawaii officials have confirmed there is no tsunami threat to the state after a powerful magnitude-7 earthquake struck Russia’s Kuril Islands on Sunday.

Oahu Emergency Management confirmed the quake posed no danger to Hawaii. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System also reported that no tsunami alert had been issued.

The US Geological Survey put it at magnitude 7 while the German Research Center for Geosciences measured the quake at 6.7 magnitude, initially reporting 6.35, with a depth of 10km (6.2 miles).

Russia’s ministry for emergency services had earlier said tsunami waves were possible along parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula. However, later the Russian authorities said they had cancelled the tsunami alert for the Kamchatka Peninsula.

“The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area.

Overnight, the Krasheninnikov Volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA state news agency and scientists reported on Sunday.

Both incidents come just days after a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake in the same region triggered tsunami alerts as far away as Japan, Indonesia, Australia, the United States, and Chile.

Russian scientists believe that the volcanic eruption was connected to last week’s quake.

“This is the first historically confirmed eruption of Krasheninnikov Volcano in 600 years,” Russian news agency RIA cited Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, as saying. She added the eruption “may be connected to the earthquake on Wednesday”, which was followed by an eruption of Klyuchevskoy, the most active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Russia’s emergency services said an ash plume from Krasheninnikov rose to 6,000 metres (3.7 miles) and drifted eastward over the Pacific, away from populated areas.

“The ash cloud has drifted eastward, toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path,” the ministry said on Telegram.

The eruption was assigned an orange aviation code, signalling a heightened risk to aircraft.

The Kuril Islands stretch from the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian scientists had warned on Wednesday that strong aftershocks were possible in the region in the next several weeks.