7.5 magnitude earthquake has been recorded beneath the northern Pacific Ocean near Russia's Kuril Islands, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS.)
The quake struck at 2:49 a.m. UTC on Wednesday (10:49 p.m. ET Tuesday) at a depth of around 37 miles, USGS data shows.
The epicenter was located 136 miles south-southeast of Severo-Kurilsk on the island chain, and 870 miles northeast of the Japanese city of Sapporo.
Russian News agency RIA Novosti reported that residents in some areas of the Kamchatka Peninsula—located just north of the Kuril Island chain—felt the quake. However, at present, there have been no reports of any damage of casualties, Channel News Asia reported.
Initial estimates from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) indicated that the earthquake measured 7.8 magnitude, however, this figure was subsequently downgraded.
Following the quake, the PTWC warned that hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts located within 621 miles of the the epicenter, and a tsunami watch was in effect for the state of Hawaii for about an hour.
"Earthquakes of this size are known to generate tsunamis potentially dangerous to coasts outside the source region," the PTWC said in an alert.
No comments:
Post a Comment