A powerful earthquake with an initial magnitude of 7.0 struck Russia’s easternmost islands on Sunday, a major aftershock that shook the nearby Kamchatka Peninsula, raising fears of a tsunami in the Pacific Ocean.
The latest quake was recorded at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), which initially gave the magnitude as 6.35 before revising it. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) later confirmed the quake as a magnitude of 7.0.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat after the quake, downplaying fears of a repeat of the earlier event that triggered mass evacuations.
However, Russian news agencies reported that a temporary tsunami warning had been issued for three districts of Kamchatka as a precautionary measure. Authorities had not reported any casualties or major damage from the latest quake as of the filing of this report.
The Kuril Islands, a volcanic archipelago stretching from Japan’s Hokkaido to Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, lie within the Pacific Ring of Fire – a region known for frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
