Raikoki Volcano Kurile Islands, Russia: MAJOR Explosive Eruption, Ash to approx. 43,000 ft altitude

 

Raikoke, Kuril Islands, RUSSIA:

A very significant explosive eruption occurred – without any warning – at Raikoki volcano on the evening of 21 June 2019, at or shortly before around 18:10 UTC (or 06:10 local time on 22 June). A dense dark-brown ash plume rising to estimated 43,000 ft (13 km) altitude was spotted clearly on Japan’s Himawari 8 satellite, high above the dense lower cloud decks. As of the time of this post, about 6 hours after the start of the (presumably still ongoing) eruption, the ash plume has reached a length of approx. 500 km and drifting eastwards.
Raikoki is a stratovolcano forming a small island in the central part of the Kuriles, about 16 km across the Golovnin Strait from Matua Island. It rises to an elevation of 700 m.
Being one of the most remote of the Kurils Islands chain and not monitored, so there are no known precursors nor any details from ground observations available. A few eruptions have been known from sporadic historic records during the past centuries.

 

Raikoke volcano eruptions:
2019, 1924, 1778, 1765

Start Date Eruption Certainty                VEI Evidence
1924 Feb 15 Confirmed                       4 Historical Observations
1778 Confirmed                       4 Historical Observations
1765 ± 5 years Confirmed                       2 Historical Observations

Raikoke volcano
Stratovolcano 551 m / 1,808 ft
Central Kuriles, Kuril Islands, 48.29°N / 153.25°E

 

Raikoke (or Raikoki) volcano is mainly basaltic and has a 700 m wide and 200 m deep crater with steep walls. Raikoko has erupted lava flows all along the eastern side of the island.
A large eruption occurred in 1778 which destroyed the upper third of the island. Another strong eruption was in 1925, which reshaped the crater and altered the coastline of the island.

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