SRINAGAR: A powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on early Wednesday morning, prompting tsunami alerts across parts of Russia, US, and Japan, as reported by BBC.
The quake occurred at approximately 8:25 AM local time (4:25 PM ET Tuesday) and was initially measured at magnitude 8.0 before being upgraded to 8.8. This makes it one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded globally tied as the sixth strongest alongside the 2010 Chile earthquake and the 1906 Ecuador quake.
According to US Geological Survey (USGS), as quoted by Reuters, the earthquake’s epicenter was located about 74 miles (119 kilometers) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of roughly 165,000 residents. Russian state news agency TASS reported that several people sustained injuries.
Following the quake, tsunami waves measuring between 10 and 13 feet (3 to 4 meters) struck Severo-Kurilsk, a small port town of about 2,000 people on Russia’s far eastern coast. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry confirmed the town was flooded and subsequently evacuated. Authorities have warned that aftershocks reaching up to magnitude 7.5 could persist for up to a month. More than a dozen aftershocks have already been recorded.
“This was the strongest earthquake we’ve experienced in decades,” said Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov in a statement on Telegram. Kamchatka’s regional health minister, Oleg Melnikov, added that all patients were in “satisfactory condition.”
The region lies along the Kuril-Kamchatka arc, an area known for frequent seismic activity. A magnitude 7.4 quake that struck on July 20 is now believed to have been a foreshock to Wednesday’s event. Kamchatka was also the site of the fifth strongest recorded earthquake a magnitude 9.0 back in 1952.
Meanwhile, tsunami warnings have been issued in various countries, including US and Japan.
