• Source:JND
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Russia earthquake today: A powerful 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit Russia's Kuril Islands on Sunday, rattling the isolated archipelago with significant force but with no initial reports of serious damage or injury. The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) initially measured the quake at 6.35 magnitude, later updating it to 6.7 with a shallow 10 km depth, making it prone to aftershocks. Both the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center recorded the earthquake as a 7.0 magnitude, although no tsunami warning was issued. The authorities and emergency response in the Far Eastern Russian regions are observing the situation very closely.

Second Major Quake Strikes Russia

Sunday's earthquake follows only days after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30, inducing general panic, damage to buildings, and prompting tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific, including Japan, Hawaii, French Polynesia, and Chile. That previous earthquake, which hit at a shallow depth of 19.3 km, was the strongest to hit the area since 1952, Russian scientists reported. The Klyuchevskoy volcano, one of the world's tallest and most active, erupted just after the earthquake, spewing lava and ash well above the Kamchatka Peninsula. Both quakes are among heightened tectonic activity within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active geological belt responsible for more than 80% of the planet's biggest earthquakes.

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Both quakes are part of increased tectonic activity along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a volatile geological belt that accounts for over 80 per cent of the world’s largest earthquakes. The region sits on a megathrust fault where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the North American Plate, a known hotspot for seismic and volcanic activity. Geologists and disaster preparedness agencies have warned that aftershocks are likely to continue, and residents in Russia’s Far East, Japan, and the Pacific basin are urged to remain alert. “The Pacific Plate’s recent movement is concerning. Kamchatka and the Kurils are particularly vulnerable,” a seismologist from the Russian Academy of Sciences said on Telegram.

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So far, no fatalities or serious injuries have been reported from Sunday’s earthquake, and Russia’s Emergency Ministry confirmed that alert systems and early response teams have been deployed across the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka region.