# Raikoke > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Raikoke > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Raikoke.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raikoke > Source revision: 1337734719 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Uninhabited island in the Kuril Island chain}} {{Infobox islands | name = Raikoke | native_name = {{lang|ru|Райкоке}}
{{nobold|{{Nihongo2|雷公計島}}}} | image_name = Raikoke Landsat.jpg | image_caption = NASA Landsat view of Raikoke Island | area_km2 = 4.6 | location = [Sea of Okhotsk](/source/Sea_of_Okhotsk) | coordinates = {{coord|48|17|31|N|153|15|04|E|display=inline,title}} | map_image = Kuriles Raikoke.PNG | map_caption = | archipelago = [Kuril Islands](/source/Kuril_Islands) | country = Russia | highest_mount = Pik Raikoke | elevation_m = 551 | population = 0 | ethnic_groups = }} '''Raikoke''' ({{langx|ru|Райкоке}}, {{langx|ja|雷公計島|Raikoke-tō}}), also spelled '''Raykoke''', is, as of 2019, a Russian uninhabited [volcanic island](/source/volcanic_island) near the centre of the [Kuril Islands](/source/Kuril_Islands) chain in the [Sea of Okhotsk](/source/Sea_of_Okhotsk) in the northwest [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean), {{convert|16|km}} distant from the island of [Matua](/source/Matua_(island)). Its name is derived from the [Ainu language](/source/Ainu_language), from the Hokkaido Ainu word "hellmouth".{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} ==Geology== Raikoke is roughly circular, with a length of {{convert|2.5|km|abbr=on}} with a width of {{convert|2.0|km}}, and an area of {{convert|4.6|km2|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/ichthyology/okhotskia/ikip/Info/physical.html|title=International Kuril Island Project（IKIP）|publisher=University of Washington Fish Collection or the respective authors}} The island is a [stratovolcano](/source/stratovolcano), its lava composed primarily of basalt.{{Cite web|url=https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/raikoke.html|title=Raikoke|website=www.volcanodiscovery.com}} The cone rises above a submarine terrace with a depth of {{convert|130|m|abbr=on}} to a maximum height of {{convert|551|m|abbr=on}} above sea level. The steep-walled crater is {{convert|700|m|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|200|m|abbr=on}} deep with [lava flow](/source/lava_flow)s extending along the eastern half of the island. The volcano has most recently erupted in 1765, 1778, 1924 and 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/raikoke|title=Raikoke|date=August 2, 2011|website=Volcano World}} The 1778 and 1924 Raikoke eruptions were classified on the [Volcanic Explosivity Index](/source/Volcanic_Explosivity_Index) scale (that ranges from zero to eight) as VEI-4 or greater. For comparison the volcano Anak Krakatoa eruption in 2018 was also rated as a VEI-4 event.{{Cite web|url=https://earthobservatory.sg/blog/child-krakatoa-awakes|title=The Child of Krakatoa Awakes|website=Earth Observatory of Singapore}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/big-blast-from-russian-volcano-raikoke|title=Big Blast from Russian Volcano Raikoke|website=Discover Magazine}} The 1778 eruption of Raikoke was the largest of the recent volcanic events destroying the upper third of the island.{{Cite gvp|vn=290250|name=Raikoke|access-date=26 June 2019}} The only known fatalities from the eruptions was during the 1778 eruption when fifteen were killed from falling lava bombs. === 2019 eruption=== thumb|upright|Raikoke emits a plume of ash and volcanic gases in the 2019 eruption. At approximately 4:03 am, 22 June 2019 it erupted, with a plume of ash and gas reaching between {{convert|13000|m|abbr=on}} and {{convert|17000|m|abbr=on}}, passing the [tropopause](/source/tropopause) and allowing [stratospheric](/source/stratospheric) injection of [ash](/source/volcanic_ash) and [sulfur dioxide](/source/sulfur_dioxide).{{cite web|title=Raikoke Erupts|url=https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145226/raikoke-erupts |access-date=26 June 2019|website=www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov|date=24 June 2019 }} A study with the [ESA](/source/European_Space_Agency) satellite [Sentinel-5P](/source/Sentinel-5_Precursor) revealed volcano's sulphur dioxide plume had clustered into distinct structures in the 72 hours following the eruption. One of these plumes was a swirling stratospheric mass of sulphur dioxide that circled the globe three times and ascended to an altitude of some {{Cvt|27|km}} through the [radiative heating](/source/Thermal_radiation) of ash. Sentinel-5P and [NASA](/source/NASA)'s [CALIPSO](/source/CALIPSO) mission showed signs of [anticyclonic](/source/Anticyclone) motion for this plume. The ESA satellite [Aeolus](/source/ADM-Aeolus) confirmed that the structure was anticyclonic. Such self-containing and long-lived anticyclonic structures have long been associated with large [wildfire](/source/wildfire)s, but stable volcanic plumes are seldom reported and only form in certain conditions.{{Cite web |title=ESA's wind mission helps investigate the nature of volcanic plumes - Earth Online |url=https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/news/esa-s-wind-mission-helps-investigate-the-nature-of-volcanic-plumes |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=earth.esa.int}} ==Fauna== Raikoke is one of five major [Steller sea lion](/source/Steller_sea_lion) rookeries on the Kuril Islands and in the spring and summer it is home to one of the largest [northern fulmar](/source/northern_fulmar) aggregations on the Kurils; [crested](/source/Crested_auklet) and [parakeet auklet](/source/parakeet_auklet), [pigeon guillemot](/source/pigeon_guillemot), and [black-legged kittiwake](/source/black-legged_kittiwake) also nest on the island.Kondratyev, A. Y., Litvinenko, N. M., Shibaev, Y. V., Vyatkin, P. S., & Kondratyeva, L. F. (2000). [http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/CW69-15-4-2000E.pdf The breeding seabirds of the Russian Far East]. ''Seabirds of the Russian Far East'', 37–81. Captain Henry James Snow reported that in 1883 some 15,000 [northern fur seal](/source/northern_fur_seal)s inhabited the island. However, by the 1890s only "a few scores" were recorded captured there, almost certainly due to [overexploitation](/source/overexploitation) by fur hunters. Currently no fur seals reproduce on Raikoke. thumb|Raikoke Island as seen from the Golovnin Strait ==History== Raikoke was visited by hunting and fishing parties of the [Ainu](/source/Ainu_people), but there was no permanent habitation at the time of European contact. The island appears on an official map showing the territories of [Matsumae Domain](/source/Matsumae_clan), a [feudal domain](/source/han_(administrative_division)) of [Edo Japan](/source/Edo_period) dated 1644, and these holdings were officially confirmed by the [Tokugawa shogunate](/source/Tokugawa_shogunate) in 1715. It was subsequently claimed by the [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire); [sovereignty](/source/sovereignty) initially passed to Russia under the terms of the [Treaty of Shimoda](/source/Treaty_of_Shimoda), but was returned to the [Empire of Japan](/source/Empire_of_Japan) per the [Treaty of Saint Petersburg](/source/Treaty_of_Saint_Petersburg_(1875)) along with the rest of the Kuril islands. The island was formerly administered as part of Shimushu District of [Nemuro Subprefecture](/source/Nemuro_Subprefecture) of [Hokkaidō](/source/Hokkaid%C5%8D). After [World War II](/source/World_War_II), it came under the control of the [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union), and is now administered as part of the [Sakhalin Oblast](/source/Sakhalin_Oblast) of [Russia](/source/Russia). ==See also== *[List of volcanoes in Russia](/source/List_of_volcanoes_in_Russia) ==Notes== {{reflist}} == References == * [https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=290250 Global Volcanism Program] == Further reading == * Gorshkov, G. S. ''Volcanism and the Upper Mantle Investigations in the Kurile Island Arc''. Monographs in geoscience. New York: Plenum Press, 1970. {{ISBN|0-306-30407-4}} * Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, and James Greive. The History of Kamtschatka and the Kurilski Islands, with the Countries Adjacent. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1963. * Rees, David. ''The Soviet Seizure of the Kuriles''. New York: Praeger, 1985. {{ISBN|0-03-002552-4}} * Takahashi, Hideki, and Masahiro Ōhara. ''Biodiversity and Biogeography of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin''. Bulletin of the Hokkaido University Museum, no. 2-. Sapporo, Japan: Hokkaido University Museum, 2004. ==External links== {{commons category|Raikoke}} * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223043232/http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/kuril/raikoke.php |date=December 23, 2010 |title=Oceandots }} {{Kuril Islands}} {{Sea of Okhotsk Islands}} {{Authority control}} Category:Active volcanoes Category:Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk Category:Islands of the Russian Far East Category:Stratovolcanoes of Russia Category:Islands of the Kuril Islands Category:Uninhabited islands of Russia Category:Volcanoes of the Kuril Islands Category:Mountains of the Kuril Islands Category:Holocene stratovolcanoes --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Raikoke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raikoke) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raikoke?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.