7.4 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Kamchatka Peninsula, No Tsunami Threat Detected

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake occurred near the coast of Russia’s Far East Kamchatka peninsula on Saturday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Fortunately, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) reported that there was no threat of a tsunami resulting from the quake.

The USGS indicated that the earthquake struck 111 kilometers (69 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the administrative center of the Kamchatka region, with a depth of 39.5 kilometers.

Initially, the survey assessed the earthquake’s magnitude at 7.5, but this was subsequently revised downwards.

The PTWC had initially cautioned that “dangerous” waves could reach heights of up to one meter (3.3 feet) along certain nearby Russian coastlines, but later announced that the tsunami threat had diminished.

In July, a significant earthquake, one of the most powerful recorded, hit the Kamchatka peninsula, producing tsunamis that reached heights of four meters across the Pacific Ocean and resulting in evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.

That earthquake, measuring 8.8 in magnitude, was the strongest since a 9.1-magnitude tremor in 2011 off the coast of Japan, which resulted in a tsunami that claimed over 15,000 lives.

In the wake of July’s event, Japanese authorities ordered nearly two million people to evacuate to higher ground.