A 7.4 magnitude earthquake[1] has struck the east coast of Russia[2] this morning.
According to the US Geological Survey the quake struck Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula in the early hours of Saturday, September 13. The quake comes days after a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake, the sixth strongest ever recorded, hit the region.
The USGS reports that the latest quake’s epicentre was 111.7 km (69.3 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and at a depth of about 39 km (24 miles).
The US Tsunami warning system has not issued a tsunami threat following the earthquake.
Follow our live blog below for the latest updates.
Why do earthquakes happen?
Earthquakes occur when rocky tectonic plates, floating on magma, rub against each other, releasing large amounts of energy.
As stress builds up due to tectonic plate movement, the built-up energy is released as seismic waves in what’s called a faulting mechanism.
Is there a tsunami warning?
There is curreently no tsunami warning, advisory, watch, or threat according to officials.
Where it happened?
The quake struck 69.1 miles west of Kamchatsky which has a population of 181k people.
The Kuril-Kamchatka Arc extends approximately 2,100 km from Hokkaido, Japan along the Kuril Islands and the Pacific coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The Kuril-Kamchatka Arc is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. The largest megathrust earthquake to occur along the arc in the 20th century was the November 4, 1952 measuring 9.0 magnitude.
References
- ^ earthquake (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Russia (www.mirror.co.uk)