A representational image of a Richter scale measuring an earthquake. — UnsplashAn earthquake of magnitude 5.9 struck off the east coast of Russia’s Kamchatka region on Friday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.The quake hit at a depth of 51 kilometres at 3:24pm local time, EMSC said.
The quake comes over a week after another powerful quake measuring a magnitude 7.2 struck the same region at the same depth on August 17, triggering a volcanic eruption.According to the United States National Tsunami Warning Center, the previous earthquake also triggered a tsunami threat but the Kamchatka branch of Russia’s emergency ministry reported that there was no threat of tsunami, Reuters reported.The Russian emergency ministry had also recorded aftershocks from the previous quake, ranging in their magnitude from 3.9 to 5.0.As for the quake on Friday, no injuries or damage have been reported so far.According to preliminary estimates from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake might have been felt by over 270,000 people across Russia on Friday, the Daily Express reported.Approximately 240,000 people were in areas with light shaking (intensity IV), while approximately 81 people might have been affected by the highest expected shaking intensity of V or Moderate on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale.