A tsunami warning has been issued for the coastal areas of Russia’s Far East after a strong earthquake off the coast of Kamchatka. Waves are said to be possible within 300 kilometers of the epicenter.
The quake was registered on Friday morning local time, at the depth of 33 kilometers (20 miles) under the Bering Sea, some 80 kilometers east of the coast of Kamchatka.
The nearest inhabited settlement is the village of Nikolskoye, on the Bering Island, part of the Commander Islands chain.
An aftershock of 5.7 magnitude was recorded within half an hour of the original quake.
Tsunami waves of up to 1 meter (3 feet) above the tide level are expected in the affected area. There was no threat as of yet to Alaska, the continental US, or Hawaii, the US government’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
There were no casualties or property damage as the result of the Kamchatka quake, TASS reported citing Russian government officials.
The area where the quake took place is on the so-called “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active area all along the rim of the Pacific Ocean. Three weeks ago, a 7.2 quake struck near Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska, causing widespread damage but no fatalities.
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