A powerful earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula early Saturday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The epicentre was located 111 km (69 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the administrative hub of the Kamchatka region, at a depth of 39.5 km. The USGS initially measured the quake at 7.5 before revising it down slightly.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) has cautioned that hazardous tsunami waves could strike coastal areas within 300 km of the epicentre. Authorities are closely monitoring the situation and have not yet issued a full-scale evacuation alert.
This comes just two months after an 8.8-magnitude quake in July triggered waves as high as 4 metres across the Pacific, prompting mass evacuations from Hawaii to Japan — the strongest since the devastating 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Officials are urging residents in the Kamchatka region to remain alert and follow any emergency advisories.
