Tsunami alert after powerful quakes strike off coast of Russia: USGS
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The Kamchatka peninsula is the meeting point of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, making it a seismic hot zone.
PHOTO: USGS
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MOSCOW – A series of powerful earthquakes struck off the coast of Russia’s far east area on July 20, triggering a tsunami alert, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Earlier 5-magnitude and 6.7-magnitude earthquakes did not initially trigger a tsunami alert, but were followed by a 7.4-magnitude quake at 8.49am GMT (4.49pm Singapore time), prompting the USGS to warn that “hazardous tsunami waves are possible”.
It said the tsunami alert zone applied for coastal areas within a radius of 300km of the epicentre in the Pacific Ocean, off the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
A separate tsunami watch was issued for the US state of Hawaii. The US state of Alaska sits across the Bering Sea from the city.
The initial earthquakes were followed by several aftershocks, including another 6.7-magnitude quake, said USGS.
The epicentre was around 140km east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, capital of the Kamchatka region.
The Kamchatka peninsula is the meeting point of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, making it a seismic hot zone.
Since 1900, seven major earthquakes of 8.3 magnitude or higher have struck the area. AFP
