A large earthquake measuring magnitude 8.0 has struck off the eastern coast of Russia in the Kamchatka Peninsula region, the United States Geological Survey reports.
The Mineral Resources Department says there is no current Tsunami warning imposed for the Fiji region.
They say however they will continue to monitor the situation.
The epicentre was located 136 kilometres east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city in Russia’s Far East.
USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of about 19.3 kilometres, and struck at 11.24 this morning.
They say “widespread hazardous tsunami waves” were possible.
Russian regional governor Vladimir Solodov called the quake the “strongest in decades”, and warned people to move away from the coast, the Guardian reported.
Japan has issued a tsunami warning for waves of up to 1 metre along the country’s Pacific coast.
In New Zealand, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said there was no tsunami threat to the country from the quake.
The tsunami warnings and watches issues by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says Tsunami waves reaching more than 3 metres above the tide level were possible along some coasts of northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Russia, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.
It said tsunami waves reaching 1 to 3m above the tide level were possible along some coasts of Guam, Hawaii, Japan, Johnston Atoll, Midway Island, Northern Marianas, and Palmyra Island.
The centre said tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1m above the tide level were possible for some coasts of Chuuk, Kosrae, Marshall Islands, Palau, Philippines, Pohnpei, Wake Island, and Yap, while tsunami waves forecast to be less than 0.3 metres above the tide level for the coasts of DPR of Korea, Republic of Korea, and Taiwan.
Source : Stuff.co
