Tsunami threat over in Russia after 7.4 magnitude earthquake

Tsunami threat is over after three earthquakes, one with a 7.4 magnitude, hit Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the capital of Kamchatka region in Russia.

There were also seismic events with magnitudes of 6.7 and 5.0 in the same region. The epicentre is generally reported around 140km east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The biggest one with the magnitude of 7.4 was at a depth of 20km. The city has a population of 164,000 as of the 2021 census. There were no reports of immediate casualities in the region.

Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) and Russia’s Emergencies Ministry issued a warning of Tsunami waves even for Hawaii and asked the coastal residents to stay away from the shore. Later on, the alert was cancelled as the danger passed.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is a city and the administrative centre of the Kamchatka region. It is located in the far east of Russia on the coast of Avacha Bay of the Pacific Ocean.

The Kamchatka peninsula is an active earthquake zone because it’s a meeting point of two large pieces of the Earth’s crust (Pacific and North American) tectonic plates making it a seismic hot zone.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 9 hit the Kamchatka region in 1952.

Are earthquakes common in Russia?

Yes, the earthquakes are common in the Kamchatka region of Russia. It is a meeting point of Pacific and North American tectonic plates, making it a seismic hot zone. Since 1900, seven major earthquakes has hit the area.