8-magnitude earthquake hits Kamchatka

On July 30, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East. The quake damaged buildings and triggered a 4-meter-high tsunami, prompting warnings and evacuations across the Pacific Ocean.

Reuters reports that several people were injured in the Russian Far East, and large areas of Japan's east coast were evacuated.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of 19.3 km and was centered 119 km southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The initial magnitude was recorded as 8.0, but that was later revised to a strong 6.9 magnitude aftershock.

The Russian Academy of Sciences announced that it was the strongest earthquake recorded in the region since 1952.