A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Russia’s eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, followed by several aftershocks. A tsunami of up to 5 meters (16 feet) hit the area around the peninsula.
Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula is located in the Pacific Ocean. As a result, tsunami warnings were issued for various countries and regions along the Pacific Ocean, including the west coast of Japan and the United States, due to the earthquake that occurred in this region. Although almost all countries and regions have subsequently withdrawn tsunami-related warnings, some have been maintained.
The quake struck at a depth of 19.3 kilometers (9.2 miles), the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. It was relatively shallow. Its epicenter was 119 kilometers (74 miles) east-southeast of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of about 165,000.
However, RT reports that, according to the Geological Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the earthquake was felt about 136 kilometers southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at 11:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. It is the strongest earthquake in the region since 1952, or 73 years.
The earthquake caused tsunami waves of varying magnitude in various parts of the US West Coast, including Japan, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, California, and the Hawaiian Islands. In addition, tsunami warnings, advisories, and watches were issued in British Columbia, Canada, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, French Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, as well as in other Pacific countries and regions.
As of last report, tsunami advisories were in effect for the Pacific region of New Zealand, Colombia, Ecuador and Japan. The highest alert was in effect for Pascua Island in Chile.
“I decided to leave the house. It felt like the walls were going to collapse at any moment. The shaking lasted for at least three minutes,” Yaroslav, 25, a resident of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, told Reuters.
The earthquake caused damage to houses in various parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Many people were injured. However, there were no reports of casualties. After the earthquake, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press conference that there were no reports of casualties so far.
Residents in most of eastern Japan were ordered to evacuate immediately after a tsunami hit the eastern coast of Russia, but that was ultimately not necessary.
The tsunami followed small waves hitting Japan’s east coast, but they gradually grew larger. The country’s meteorological agency had predicted that these waves could reach a maximum of 3 meters, or 9.8 feet. However, the largest wave that hit the country’s coast yesterday was 1.3 meters, or 4.3 feet.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said in a statement that workers at the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini nuclear power plants in Japan have been evacuated to safe areas after a tsunami warning was issued. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was severely damaged by a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, which is considered one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said there were no reports of casualties. Nothing unusual was seen at the nuclear plants.
The tsunami caused waves of up to 1.7 meters (5.5 feet) to hit the coast of Hawaii, according to the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. A tsunami warning was issued immediately after the tsunami, but it was quickly downgraded to a tsunami advisory.
Volcanic eruption
The Klyuchevskoy volcano on the country’s Kamchatka Peninsula has erupted after a powerful earthquake, Russian state news agency RIA reported, citing the local branch of the Geogeographic Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Klyuchevskoy is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Its height is 4,750 meters (15,584 feet). It has erupted more than 50 times since 1700.
Source: Prothom Alo
