Buildings shake, water floods streets as tsunami waves hit Russia’s Kamchatka after powerful 8.8 quake.
Russia faced the strongest earthquake of the world in 14 years with a magnitude of 8.8-magnitude that struck the Kamchatka Peninsula earlier today. The intense quake not only triggered panic and destruction of peoperty but also tsunami threat.
Chilling footage from the area depicts violently swaying buildings and frightened citizens shrieking as the earthquake shook the region.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre of the quake was 133 km southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at 74 km depth. The Russian authorities confirmed it to be the strongest earthquake in the region since 1952.
Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov accepted the severity, describing it as a 'serious' quake and 'the strongest for decades', but stating that "no one was injured in initial reports."
Footage that appeared online showed the extent of the devastation with buildings undulating for seconds on end, interiors in shambles, and individuals shrieking in terror. Although the reports confirmed destruction at different sites, there are no casualties or injuries reported officially till now.
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More video footage revealed the tsunami waves hitting the Russian Pacific coast, sea water flooding towns and surging toward buildings close to the coastal area.
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The earthquake triggered tsunami waves as high as 4 metres in parts of Kamchatka, according to Sergei Lebedev, as reported by Reuters. “A tsunami with a height of 3 to 4 metres was recorded in parts of Kamchatka,” he confirmed.
In Severo-Kurilsk, a small town to the south of Kamchatka, there was an evacuation warning because of the risk of tsunami, Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko announced via Telegram.
Tsunami warnings reached farther than Russia. The U.S. posted a tsunami advisory for some areas of Alaska. Japan's Meteorological Agency meanwhile issued warnings for waves up to three metres (about 10 feet) high and forecasted their arrival along the Pacific coast at between 10:00 am and 11:30 am local time.
