Magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes Russia's Kamchatka region, EMSC says
The quake was at a depth of 28 km (17.4 miles), EMSC said.
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The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
Watch: Tsunami floods Russian town after 8.8 magnitude earthquake
A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday. Tsunami waves subsequently flooded the Russian coastal town of Severo-Kurilsk, with drone footage showing the inundation. The tsunami partially submerged the port and a fish processing plant in Severo-Kurilsk, also sweeping vessels from their moorings. The earthquake caused damage to buildings and resulted in several injuries within the remote Russian region. Watch the video above.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Huge quake rocks Russia's Far East, triggering tsunami warnings around Pacific
July 30 (Reuters) - Parts of French Polynesia were told to brace for waves as high as 4 metres (13 ft) on Wednesday, after a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern coast triggered tsunami warnings as far away as Hawaii, Japan and Chile. The shallow tremor off the Kamchatka Peninsula damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard - devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 - was ordered to evacuate, as were parts of Hawaii. By Wednesday evening, Japan and Hawaii had downgraded their tsunami warnings, but authorities in French Polynesia warned residents of several of the remote Marquesas Islands to move to higher ground, and follow official instructions. The waves were expected to hit some islands in the early morning hours. "Our armed forces in French Polynesia are on alert as a precautionary measure, to be ready to assist our fellow citizens and state services in potential search and rescue operations or medical evacuations," French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on the social media platform X. While the Marquesas are high-rising volcanic islands, much of French Polynesia consists of low-lying atolls. Russian scientists said the quake in Kamchatka was the most powerful to hit the region since 1952. "Today's earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors," Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. "It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least three minutes," said Yaroslav, 25, in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. In Severo-Kurilsk in the northern Kuril Islands, south of Kamchatka, tsunami waves exceeded 3 metres, with the largest up to 5 metres, Russia's RIA news agency reported. Alexander Ovsyannikov, the town's mayor, urged residents to assess damage to their homes and not to use gas stove heating until inspections had been carried out. Tsunami waves partially flooded the port and a fish processing plant in the town, sweeping vessels from their moorings, regional officials and Russia's emergency ministry said. Verified drone footage showed the town's entire shoreline was submerged, with taller buildings and some storage facilities surrounded by water as it swept back out to sea. Hawaii recorded waves of up to 1.7 metres (5.5 feet) while in Japan the largest recorded came to 1.3 metres, officials said. Tsunami warnings and orders to head for higher ground in both places were later downgraded in most areas to advisories, with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center saying Hawaii no longer expected to see a major tsunami. Flights out of Honolulu airport resumed in the evening, the transportation department said. Waves of nearly half a metre were observed as far as California, with smaller ones reaching Canada's province of British Columbia. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and centred 119 km (74 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000. Tsunami alarms had sounded in coastal towns across Japan's Pacific coast and evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of people. Workers evacuated the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster, operator TEPCO said. Broadcaster Asahi TV reported a 58-year-old woman died when her car fell off a cliff while she was evacuating in central Japan's Mie prefecture. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said no injuries or damage had been reported, and there were no irregularities at any nuclear plants. But hundreds of thousands of commuters in Tokyo and surrounding areas faced being stranded as they headed home, with operations on railway lines along the Pacific coast remaining halted. Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services said on Telegram that a kindergarten was damaged, but most buildings withstood the quake. Several people in Kamchatka sought medical assistance following the quake, Oleg Melnikov, regional health minister, told Russia's TASS state news agency. Video footage from the region's health ministry showed a team of medics in the city of 165,000 residents performing surgery as the tremors shook their operating theatre. Kamchatka and Russia's Far East sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. "However, due to certain characteristics of the epicentre, the shaking intensity was not as high ... as one might expect from such a magnitude," said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Service, on Telegram. "Aftershocks are currently ongoing ... Their intensity will remain fairly high. However, stronger tremors are not expected in the near future."
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Tsunami warnings scaled back after waves crash into Japan, Hawaii and US coast
One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded has struck off Russia's sparsely populated Far East, sending tsunami waves into Japan, Hawaii and the US west coast. Several people were injured, but none seriously, and no major damage has been reported so far. Advertisement Authorities warned that the risk from the 8.8 magnitude quake could last for hours, and millions of people potentially in the path of the waves were initially told to move away from the shore or seek high ground. But the danger already appeared to be lessening in some places, with Hawaii and parts of Japan downgrading their warnings. Authorities on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, near the quake's epicentre, cancelled their tsunami warning. Residents fled inland as ports flooded on Kamchatka, while frothy, white waves washed up on the shore in northern Japan. Cars jammed streets and motorways in Honolulu, with standstill traffic even in areas away from the sea. People flocked to evacuation centres in affected areas of Japan, with memories fresh of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that caused reactor meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. No abnormalities in operations at Japan's nuclear plants were reported on Wednesday. Advertisement Russian authorities said several people were injured, but all were in stable condition, though they gave few details. In Japan, at least one person was injured. A tsunami height of 10 to 13ft was recorded in Kamchatka, 2ft on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, and 2 to 5ft in San Francisco, officials said. Much of the US west coast, spanning California, Oregon, Washington state, and the Canadian province of British Columbia, were under a tsunami advisory. The aftermath of a tsunami hitting the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk in the Kuril Islands (Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences/AP) Hawaii was still under a tsunami advisory as Wednesday began, but evacuation orders on the Big Island and Oahu, the most populated island, had been lifted. Advertisement An advisory means there is the potential for strong currents and dangerous waves, as well as flooding on beaches or in harbours. The impact of the tsunami could last for hours or perhaps more than a day, said Dave Snider, tsunami warning co-ordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Centre in Alaska. 'A tsunami is not just one wave,' he said. 'It's a series of powerful waves over a long period of time. 'Tsunamis cross the ocean at hundreds of miles an hour — as fast as a jet airplane — in deep water. But when they get close to the shore, they slow down and start to pile up. And that's where that inundation problem becomes a little bit more possible there.' Advertisement Hawaii governor Josh Green earlier said helicopters and high-water vehicles were ready to go in case authorities needed to rescue people. Oahu residents evacuate Ewa Beach (Michelle Bir/AP) Oregon Department of Emergency Management said small tsunami waves were expected along the coast. It urged people to stay away from beaches, harbours and marinas and to remain in a safe location away from the coast until the advisory is lifted. 'This is not a major tsunami, but dangerous currents and strong waves may pose a risk to those near the water,' the department said. A tsunami of less than a foot was forecast to hit parts of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and waves of up to 1.4ft above tide levels were observed in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Advertisement Russia's Oceanology Institute said tsunami waves might have been as high as 30 to 50ft in some sections of the Kamchatka coast. Later, authorities on the peninsula and the Kuril islands cancelled tsunami warnings, though they said some risk remained. The regional branch of Russia's Emergency Ministry on Kamchatka warned that scientists expect aftershocks at magnitudes of up to 7.5. It said more tsunamis are possible in Avacha Bay, where the regional capital of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is located. People take shelter at a temporary evacuation site in Kushiro, Hokkaido, northern Japan (Kyodo News/AP) Oleg Melnikov, head of the regional health department, said a few people hurt themselves while rushing to leave buildings and a hospital patient was injured while jumping out of a window. He said all injured people were stable. A video released by Russian media outlet showed a team of doctors at a cancer clinic on Kamchatka holding a patient and clutching medical equipment as the quake rocked an operating room, before continuing with surgery after the shaking stopped. Authorities introduced a state of emergency on the sparsely populated Kurils — which are between Kamchatka and Japan — after the tsunami. They earlier reported that several waves flooded the fishing port of Severo-Kurilsk, the main city on the islands, and cut power supplies to the area. The port's mayor said no major damage was recorded. The quake struck at 8.25am Japan time with a magnitude of 8.8 magnitude and a depth of about 13 miles, according to the US Geological Survey. It was centred about 75 miles from the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Multiple aftershocks as strong as 6.9 magnitude followed. Rescuers inspect a nursery school damaged by the earthquake in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service/AP) The earthquake appeared to be the strongest recorded since the 9.0 magnitude earthquake off north-eastern Japan in March 2011 that caused a massive tsunami that set off meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Only a few stronger earthquakes have ever been measured around the world. The tsunami alert disrupted transport in Japan, with ferries, trains and airports in the affected area suspending or delaying some operations. A tsunami of 2ft was recorded at Hamanaka town in Hokkaido and Kuji port in Iwate, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Several areas reported smaller waves including 8in in Tokyo Bay five hours after the quake. Japan's Meteorological Agency partially downgraded its tsunami alert to an advisory in the Pacific coast south of Fukushima, with the alert still in place farther north. Authorities in the Philippines, Mexico and New Zealand also warned residents to watch for waves and strong currents. People were also urged to stay away from coastlines until any wave surges passed in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Federated States of Micronesia and Solomon Islands.
