Three earthquakes strike Russia's coast, Tsunami alert issued

Three back-to-back earthquakes struck off the coast of Russia’s far east on Sunday (July 20).

The first two earthquakes were of magnitudes 5.0 and 6.7. Those did not initially trigger a tsunami alert. The initial earthquakes were followed by several aftershocks, including another 6.7-magnitude quake.

However, the third quake, of 7.4 magnitude, prompted the US Geological Survey to warn that “hazardous tsunami waves are possible” within 300 kilometres (186 miles) of the epicentre in the Pacific, off the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

since the epicentre of the initial quakes was around 140 kilometres 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.

The state of Alaska sits across the Bering Sea from the city, but no US territory appeared to be in the alert zone.

Since 1900, seven major earthquakes of magnitude 8.3 or higher have struck the area.

More to come