By Hannah MillingtonShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA NASA satellite image shows a volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula that has awoken after more than 400 years of slumber.
Krasheninnikova first began spilling lava and spitting up ash on the morning of August 3 2025, according to reports from the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team.
It has stayed active ever since, erupting ash, volcanic gases and lava.
The image by the instrument OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on the Landsat 9 Earth observation satellite captured this ongoing activity on November 14.
Landsat 8 was built, tested and launched by NASA, while the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operates it and manages the data collecetion.
...“A volcanic plume billows from one of Krasheninnikova’s craters and drifts to the northwest. This eruption has lofted plumes several kilometers above the crater rim, leading authorities to keep the aviation color code elevated to orange. A recent lava flow extends to the northeast, contrasting with the snowy slopes,” said NASA in a statement.
Code orange typically means a volcano is exhibiting heightened unrest with increased likelihood of eruption or volcanic eruption is underway with no or minor ash emission.
The episode began five days after an earthquake shook the peninsula.
The epicenter of the earthquake, one of the strongest recorded by modern seismic instruments, according to the Earth Observatory, was about 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of the volcano.
The earthquake struck on July 29 2025, triggering Pacific-wide tsunami watches and warnings, according to the USGS.
“In keeping with a volcano that had not erupted or shown any signs of activity in about 400 years,” said Paul Lundgren, a geophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which used a remote sensing technique to measure how much ground in southern Kamchatka shifted after the earthquake, in a statement.
He added: “I would consider this eruption as triggered by the magnitude 8.8 earthquake.”
...Krasheninnikova has two overlapping stratovolcanoes—cone-shaped bodies with steep sides, formed by viscous, explosive magma—within a caldera.
The eruption that formed this cauldron-like hollow appears to date back around 30,000 years, while the volcano’s previous eruption occurred around 1550 and produced lava flows from both summit cones, Earth Observatory reported.
While Krasheninnikova may have been triggered by the recent earthquake, NASA noted that it is common for multiple Kamchatka volcanoes to erupt at the same time.
Newsweek has reached out to NASA and USGS for additional comment.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about volcanology? Let us know via [email protected].
Request Reprint & LicensingSubmit CorrectionView Editorial & AI Guidelines
Add Newsweek as a preferred source on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.Recommended For You
ScienceHumans Don’t Belong in Cities, Say Evolutionary Scientists3 min read
ScienceNASA Releases New Images of Interstellar Visitor Comet 3I/ATLAS3 min read
ScienceNew Weight Loss Pill Shows Promise in Type 2 Diabetics3 min read
Family & ParentingKids Raised This Way Struggle Less As Parents4 min read
ScienceHalf of World’s Beaches ‘Will Disappear by End of the Century’7 min read
SciencePsychologists Reveal Three Signs That Your Porn Use is Problematic3 min readRelated Podcasts
Top Stories
WorldUkraine and Europe Reject Trump’s Russia Peace Plan—Live Updates1 min read
NewsUncommon Knowledge: Trump Shouts ‘Sedition,’ But Troops Don’t Agree5 min read
U.S.Jasmine Crockett Says Person Made ‘White Supremacist Threats’ at Her Office4 min read
NewsTrump Skips G20 Summit—Here’s Who Else Won’t Be There5 min read
WorldUS Gives Ukraine One Week to Back Peace Deal or Risk Losing Weapons: Report3 min read
NewsSNAP Benefits To Change From December: What to Know4 min readTrending
NursesNursing Is No Longer Counted as a ‘Professional Degree’ by Trump Admin7 min read
SNAP benefitsSNAP Benefits Update: USDA To ‘Completely Deconstruct’ Program3 min read
Zohran MamdaniFact Check: Is Mamdani Introducing Arabic Numerals To New York Schools?3 min read
Donald TrumpDonald Trump Demands ‘Seditious’ Democrats Arrested: ‘Punishable by Death’4 min read
Breaking NewsDemocrats React to Donald Trump’s ‘Punishable by Death’ Remark6 min readOpinion
OpinionLatinos Catch the Fish. Why Aren’t They at the Decision-Making Table? | Opinion5 min read
OpinionWhy Is the US Punishing Legal Immigrants? | Opinion5 min read
OpinionWhat Is an American?6 min read
OpinionConventional Wisdom: MAGA Infighting Edition2 min read
OpinionNFL Players Show We Can All Solve America’s Problems | Opinion5 min read
