Russia’s 8.2 Earthquake Felt 4,000 Miles Away

Russia’s 8.2 earthquake was felt 4,000 miles away from the epicenter in the country’s capital of Moscow. The earthquake hit the country’s Far East with massive tremors.

The US Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 8.2, while Marina Kolomiyets, spokeswoman for Obninsk’s seismic station of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stated that the quake registered at 8.0.

The epicenter was in the Sea of Okhotsk, east of the Russian coast and north of Japan. The massive quake struck at a depth of 375 miles under the sea bed. The depth allowed the tremors to be felt far away.

Emergency agencies issued a tsunami warning for the Far East in Sakhalin and the Kuril islands. However, the warning was soon canceled. The epicenter was located in the Kuril-Kamchatka arc, one of the most active regions in the world.

Russian news agencies reported residents of Petrobavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka peninsula felt the tremors for about five minutes. Schools were evacuated while residents ran out of buildings. The epicenter was about 250 miles away.

Tremors from the 8.2 quake in Russia were also felt in Moscow. Police reported thousands of people fleeing apartment and commercial buildings in the city. Meanwhile, residents of Siberia also reported feeling some shock waves.

Tremors in Moscow are rare. The last recorded incident happened in 1977. But the Russian Meteorological Service confirmed reports of the earthquake being felt in the country’s capital, though they did not know how the tremors registered on the Richter scale.

Despite the powerful 8.2 quake, the Emergency Situations Ministry stated that they have no reported casualties or damage as a result. A massive aftershock followed the earthquake. The Russian Academy of Sciences measured it at a 7.0, while the USGS measured a 6.8.

The Russia earthquake comes on the same day as an earthquake struck in California. Those tremors measured 5.7 on the Richter scale and was located in Greenville.

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