18 hours ago
Last Updated:July 30, 2025, 06:59 IST
A powerful 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering a tsunami up to 4 metres high and prompting widespread evacuations.
Tsunami hits Russia's Far East after powerful earthquake (Representative photo/AFP)
A powerful magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, generating a tsunami of up to 4 metres (13 feet), thus prompting evacuations.
A tsunami with a height of 3-4 metres (10-13 feet) was recorded in parts of Kamchatka, Sergei Lebedev, Reuters quoted the regional minister for emergency situations as saying.
The minister also urged people to move away from the shoreline of the peninsula.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and was centred about 125 km (80 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000 along the coast of Avacha Bay.
It revised the magnitude up from 8.0 earlier.
Videos, widely shared on social media, showed the impact of the monstrous earthquake in Russia.
Russia’s Tass news agency reported from the biggest city nearby, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, that many people ran out into the street without shoes or outerwear.
Cabinets toppled inside homes, mirrors were broken, cars swayed in the street, and balconies on buildings shook noticeably.
Tass also reported power outages and mobile phone service failures in the capital of the Kamchatka region.
The Japan Weather Agency upgraded its warning, saying it expected tsunami waves of up to 3 metres (10 feet) to reach large coastal areas starting around 0100 GMT. Broadcaster NHK said evacuation orders had been issued by the government for some areas.
The US Tsunami Warning System also issued a warning of “hazardous tsunami waves" within the next three hours along some coasts of Russia, Japan and Hawaii.
A tsunami watch was also in effect for the US island territory of Guam and other islands of Micronesia.
An evacuation order for the small town of Severo-Kurilsk, south of the peninsula, was declared due to the tsunami threat.
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Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
News world Massive 8.7 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Russia’s Far East, Triggers Tsunami
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