Quake strikes off Kuril
Islands
MOSCOW (Reuters) - An earthquake
with a magnitude of 7.O on the Richter scale struck off Russia's
Pacific coast on Tuesday about 182 miles (293 km) northeast off
Kurilsk in the Kuril Islands, the U.S. Geological Survey
said.
The quake, which struck at 0424
GMT, was at a depth of 24.3 miles (38 km), USGS said.
There was no immediate tsunami
warning from the quake, the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning
Centre website said.
Russia's Emergency Services
Ministry said the impact on land had been minimal.
"There were no casualties or
damage caused. There is no tsunami warning," a ministry spokeswoman
said. "In the nearest towns they felt a tremor of magnitude
3-4."
In the largest nearby city of
Yuzhno-Kurilsk, on one of the southern Kuril islands, resident
Gennady Berezyuk said he did not even feel the
earthquake.
"We are used to tremors here, but
I didn't feel the quake or any aftershocks," he told Reuters by
telephone.
The islands lie north of Hokkaido,
Japan and south of Kamchatka, Russia. Seismic activity in the
region is common.
Japan's Meteorological Agency Web
site said only a minor tremor was recorded in the northeast of
Hokkaido, and no risk was seen of a tsunami in Japan.
(Reporting by Washington,
Singapore world desks and Ludmila Danilova)