VLADIVOSTOK, August 14 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has called on Sakhaliners not to panic over a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Sea of Okhotsk at the depth of 600 kilometers.
An earth tremor was registered at 14:00 local time (07:00 Moscow time). The epicenter was located 200 kilometers of the village of Smirnykh and 168 kilometers – of the town of Poronaysk. In these populated settlements tremors measuring 2-3 points on the Richter scale were felt.
“The repeat of earth tremors is unlikely,” the press service said. “There was no tsunami threat. According to the existing information, no victims or destructions were reported.”
Tremors at the depth of 500-600 kilometers are not rare at the Sea of Okhotsk. But a tectonic shock exceeding a 6.0 magnitude was registered for the first time over the past several years. The Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky seismic station registered a 7.6 magnitude quake, while the United States Geological Survey – a 7.3 magnitude quake.
Weak jolts were also felt in the Magadan region and the Khabarovsk territory.
Russia’s Sakhalin region is affected by strong quakes every three years, the region’s governor, Alexander Khoroshavin, said. A 7.6 magnitude quake in Neftegorsk in northern Sakhalin on May 28, 1995, fully destroyed the town claiming over 2,000 lives.
On August 2, 2007, a strong quake in the Tatar Strait in the north of the Sea of Japan rocked Nevelsk, where two people died and almost 260 apartment buildings and social infrastructure were fully destroyed.