Four Powerful Earthquakes, Including Magnitude 8.0, Strike Russian Coast; Tsunami Alert Issued

Representative image. (Photo: IANS)

Four powerful earthquakes struck the Russian coast on Wednesday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The first quake, with a magnitude of 8.0, struck southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It was shortly followed by another earthquake of similar magnitude (8.0), which struck east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, according to the USGS.

Soon after, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the region, around 144km southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. This was followed by another quake, with a magnitude of 6.3, southeast of Vilyuchinsk

Following this, the US National Weather Service (NWS) Tsunami Alerts issued a series of advisories and watches, including a Tsunami Advisory for Alaska's Aleutian Islands from Attu to Samalga Pass in the US, with a potential tsunami threat for Russia and Japan, warning of possible waves up to 1 meter in Japan and over 3 meters in Russia. A Tsunami Watch was also issued for Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Meanwhile, the Japan Meteorological Agency stated that a tsunami of 1 metre may reach Japan following the tremors, Kyodo News reported.

According to the USGS, the quake occurred as the result of shallow reverse faulting, as the Pacific plate moves west-northwest with respect to the North American plate at about 77 mm per year, while the North American plate extends westward beyond the North American continent.

Shallow earthquakes are generally more dangerous than deep earthquakes. This is because the seismic waves from shallow earthquakes have a shorter distance to travel to the surface, resulting in stronger ground shaking and potentially more damage to structures and greater casualties.

The earthquake's location and sense of motion are consistent with faulting on the subduction zone plate interface of the Kuril-Kamchatka Arc, the USGS stated. The Kuril-Kamchatka arc has frequent moderate-to-large earthquakes.

(With ANI Inputs)