7.4 magnitude earthquake rocks Russia's east coast, prompts tsunami alerts

An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck near the east coast of Russia’s Kamchatka region on Saturday, the U.S. National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii said. According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake had a depth of 3.95 km.

In light of the tremors, the country’s tsunami warning centre had said earlier there was a threat of a possible tsunami from the earthquake. However, the threat level has reduced significantly since then.

In Japan, to the southwest of the Kamchatka Peninsula, no tsunami warning has been issued, broadcaster NHK reported, citing the Japan Meteorological Agency.

According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), the epicentre of the quake was 111.7 kilometres east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

So far, there have been no reports of injuries or property damage. It is pertinent to note that the earthquake struck the same area that witnessed a powerful 8.8 tremor in July this year.

The massive earthquake prompted tsunami alerts for Japan, the United States, and several Pacific island nations such as Hawaii, Chile, Costa Rica and others.

At that time, the officials noted that the waves reached up to four meters in certain areas, forcing evacuations in coastal towns such as Severo-Kurilsk and prompting residents to leave the affected areas without any delay.

The reason the Russian region faces tremors is that it is located on a highly active seismic zone.

Back in 1952, the region was struck by a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake, ranking among the strongest ever recorded.

With inputs from Reuters.