A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, prompting widespread tsunami warnings across the Pacific region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The quake’s epicenter was located 119 kilometers (73.9 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of 20.7 kilometers (12.8 miles), the USGS said.
Due to its shallow depth and intensity, the earthquake was strong enough to generate tsunami waves.
Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov described the quake as “serious and the strongest in decades of tremors,” in a statement on Telegram.
Several people sustained injuries in Kamchatka, according to regional health minister Oleg Melnikov. “All patients are in satisfactory condition, and no serious injuries have been reported so far,” Melnikov told the state news agency TASS.
Authorities issued an evacuation order for the town of Severo-Kurilsk in the Sakhalin region following tsunami warnings. According to RIA Novosti, tsunami waves inundated parts of the town, citing Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry.