M 7.0 Great Earthquake Shakes Eastern Russia Region Early Sunday

Earthquake Illustration (ANTARA)

MOSKWA - An earthquake with a magnitude (M) of 7.0 rocked the offshore area of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's far east, early Sunday, August 18. The Russian disaster management ministry said shocks were felt along the coast including in the capital of the region, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. "The rescue and fire fighting operational team is examining buildings," said the Russian Ministry of Emergency in the Kamchatka region. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at a depth of nearly 50 kilometers (30 miles), about 90 kilometers east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the US tsunami warning center initially issued a tsunami threat, but later stated the threat had passed. The Russian government has never even issued a tsunami warning.

The BMKG service of Russia noted that several aftershocks were later recorded after the initial earthquake, but with lower intensity. The sun is located on an active seismic belt that surrounds most of the Pacific Ocean known as the "LIGHT ring", and is home to more than two dozen active volcanoes.