A Kamchatka earthquake of magnitude 7.8 off Russia's far-west peninsula triggered a tsunami warning but the threat has now passed, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Pacific Tsunami Center.
The quake struck at 11:34 a.m. on Tuesday some 125 miles from the city of Nikolskoye on Bering island off the Kamchatka Peninsula, reported Reuters. The epicenter was west of Attu, the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands.
The earthquake was very shallow, only 6 miles below the seabed, which would have amplified its effect, but it was far from any mainland and there were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.
The Kamchatka branch of Russia's emergency situations ministry had warned that waves up to 1-2/2 feet high could reach Nikolskoye.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had warned earlier that "hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts within 186 miles of the earthquake epicenter." But it later said that based on all available data the tsunami threat from this earthquake had passed.
The quake was initially reported as a magnitude 7.7 before being revised down to 7.4 and finally upgraded to 7.8, a major quake normally capable of causing widespread and heavy damage when striking on or near land.
The quake was followed by numerous aftershocks, including several above magnitude 5.0.
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