6.8 magnitude aftershock shakes Russia’s Kamchatka

Vladivostok: A 6.8 magnitude aftershock struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, the regional branch of the Ministry of Emergency Situations announced on social media.

The quake, which occurred at 17:37 local time (0537 GMT), was 277 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the regional capital, at a depth of 26 km.

According to the Kamchatka Tsunami Warning and Monitoring Center, tsunami waves generated by the quake are not expected to exceed 19 cm.

Despite the limited wave height, local emergency authorities have urged residents to stay away from the coastline as a precaution.

The ministry also advised vessels in coastal waters, including those anchored in open roadsteads or bays with wide entrances, to head out to sea beyond the 50-meter isobath and to sail perpendicular to the coastline, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Earlier in the day, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck Russia’s Kuril Islands, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). The agency initially estimated the quake at 6.35 magnitude with a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), but later revised its findings.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center measured the earthquake at magnitude 7.0 and confirmed that no tsunami warning had been issued in the aftermath of the quake. This latest tremor follows another earthquake of magnitude 6.2 recorded late Friday east of the Kuril Islands, as reported by India’s National Centre for Seismology (NCS) on Saturday.

The seismic activity comes in the wake of a massive magnitude 8.7 earthquake that struck on July 30 — now tied for the sixth strongest ever recorded globally. Despite the scale of the event, the Kremlin confirmed that there were no casualties in Russia.

Since the July 30 quake, the region has experienced over 125 aftershocks measuring 4.4 magnitude or higher. Of these, at least three registered magnitudes above 6.0, including a strong 6.9-magnitude aftershock that occurred roughly 45 minutes after the initial earthquake.

Strong aftershocks continue to be felt across the Kuril Islands, with seismic experts noting that aftershocks are typically most intense and frequent in the first few hours to days following a major quake. Their number and intensity generally taper off with time.

Shallow earthquakes like Sunday’s are often considered more dangerous than deeper ones due to their proximity to the Earth’s surface, which can cause more intense ground shaking and increase the risk of structural damage and casualties.

IANS