RUSSIA has been struck by a strong earthquake measuring as high as 6.2 on the Richter scale.
The large quake hit Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula region on the country’s far-east coast, over 6,200 km from Moscow.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake hit at a depth of 331km – over 200 miles – at around 03:41 UTC, or 04:41 UK time.
There are no reports of damage or injuries at this early stage.
However, there have been at least nine reports of people feeling the quake, according to EMSC.
One, who said they were in the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky region 326km from the epicentre, described the quake as “two soft thrusts.”
Another person in Vilyuchinsk, 338km away, claimed: “I didn’t feel anything.”
CSEM puts the strength of the magnitude at 5.9. The 6.2 figure was reached by the German Research Centre for Geosciences.
Under the Michigan Tech University’s Earthquake Magnitude Scale, the quake measures either at the high end of the “moderate” range or the low “strong” range.
It warns strong earthquakes can cause “a lot of damage in very populated areas” while moderate quakes can cause “damage to buildings and other structures.”
Such strong earthquakes are relatively rare, with around 100 taking place each year compared to 900,000 earthquakes measuring under 2.5 on the scale.