Northwest Pacific Still a Little Quakey

Strong quake hits north-eastern Russia
Hong Kong, China
22 May 2006 06:42



A severe earthquake estimated to measure 6,7 on the Richter scale on Monday
struck in the north-eastern Pacific coastal area of Russia, the Hong Kong
observatory said.

The quake struck at 7.21pm Hong Kong time and its epicentre was located some
870km east of the Siberian city of Magadan, the observatory said.

This would put it somewhere in the Bering Sea off Russia's far eastern
Kamchatka peninsula.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

A series of violent earthquakes measuring up to 7,9 on the Richter scale
shook the Kamchatka penisula's Koryakiya region earlier this month,
affecting 12 villages with a total population of 12 000 people.

Dozens of people received minor injuries, and hundreds were evacuated from
the quake zone.

The Kamchatka peninsula, which is about the size of Japan, has a population
density of less than one person per square kilometre.

In 1952, the region was rocked by an earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter
scale, the fourth-biggest since 1900, according to data from the United
States Geological Survey.

-- AFP