A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Russia’s Kamchatka region followed by several aftershocks on early Friday, prompting authorities to issue a tsunami alert, which was later lifted.Shocking visuals captured buildings swaying, furniture rattling, and light fixtures trembling inside homes, while another clip showed a parked car rocking violently on the street.
“This morning is once again testing the resilience of Kamchatka residents,” AFP quoted the governor of the region, Vladimir Solodov, said on Telegram.“There are currently no reports of damage. I ask everyone to remain calm,” he added.According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the quake hit 128 kilometres (80 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the regional capital, at a shallow depth of just 10 kilometres (six miles).The Kamchatka Peninsula sits on the volatile Ring of Fire, a massive tectonic belt encircling much of the Pacific Ocean. This zone is notorious for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as several of the planet’s major tectonic plates constantly grind against one another.Kamchatka itself is dotted with active volcanoes and has a long history of powerful seismic jolts, making it one of the world’s most closely monitored regions for geological hazards. Only a few months ago, in July, the area was rocked by an 8.8-magnitude mega-quake off its coast. The tremor unleashed a tsunami that swallowed parts of a coastal village and sent waves racing across the Pacific, prompting widespread warnings in countries thousands of kilometres away.
