Kamchatka: Series of Strong Earthquakes off the Coast near Petropavlovsk
This morning, the eastern coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula was shaken by a series of strong earthquakes. The most powerful quake reached a magnitude of Mw 7.3. Three additional tremors ranged between Mw 6.0 and 6.7, accompanied by several weaker aftershocks. The seismic sequence may not yet be over.
The strongest quake occurred at 06:49 UTC (08:49 CEST; 16:49 local time) at a depth of approximately 20 kilometers. The epicenter was located about 136 kilometers east of the regional capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The data comes from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and may still be subject to revision.
Germany’s GFZ (GeoForschungsZentrum) reported the main quake with a magnitude of Mw 7.4, though a manual data review is still pending. Initially, the depth was estimated at 10 kilometers but has since been adjusted to 20 kilometers. In total, five other earthquakes with magnitudes over 6.0 were recorded. The strongest of these, at Mw 6.7, occurred 21 minutes before the main shock.