A tsunami warning has been issued after three major earthquakes, one with a magnitude of 7.4, were recorded off the Pacific coast of Russia, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The epicentre on the series of quakes on Sunday was around 140 kilometres (87 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, capital of the Kamchatka region.
According to the USGS website, three powerful earthquakes occurred in the same area off the coast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky within a span of 32 minutes.
Two of the tremors registered at magnitude 6.7 and one at magnitude 7.4. Less than 30 minutes before that, a magnitude 5.0 quake was also reported in the same area, the USGS monitor said.
The tsunami alert were initially issued for Russia and the state of Hawaii in the United States, Reuters news agency reported citing the US National Tsunami Center. The warning in Hawaii was later lifted by the same agency.
Three aftershocks were also recorded shortly afterwards one at magnitude 6.6.
Germany’s GFZ monitor also confirmed that at least one magnitude 6.7 quake was recorded off the east of of Kamchatka Region on Sunday. GFZ later updated it to magnitude 7.4.
The city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky has a population of over 163,152 people, according to the city’s website.
The city is located in the Kamchatka Region facing the Pacific, northeast of Japan and west of the US state of Alaska, across the Bering Sea.
The Kamchatka peninsula is the meeting point of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, making it a seismic hot zone.
Since 1900, seven major earthquakes of magnitude 8.3 or higher have struck the area.
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