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No tsunami expected after quake in Sea of Okhotsk

The quake took place at a depth of 500-700 km

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, May 24 (Itar-Tass) - The 8.2-magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Sea of Okhotsk near the Kamchatka coast created no tsunami threat, an expert from the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences told Itar-Tass.

The quake took place at a depth of 500-700 km. Such deep quakes as a rule do not cause tsunami, the expert said.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry's Kamchatka regional department told Itar-Tass that a tsunami warning was issued for Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands at the first moments after the quake in the Far East, but then it was cancelled.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry also said that there was no tsunami threat. According to the ministry, there were no reports about any damage.

Potentially dangerous sites, airports, railroads, schools, kindergartens and hospitals are being examined, the ministry's spokeswoman Irina Rossius said.

The earthquake was recorded on Friday at 17:44 local time (09:44 Moscow time). The epicentre was located about 650 km west of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Tremours measuring 4.5-5.0 were felt in the regional centre. Furniture shook and windows opened in homes. According to seismologists, earth tremours were felt practically all over the peninsula.

Specialists note that what happened was unusual. Relatively powerful quakes usually take place east of Kamchatka. The quake occurred on Friday at the area where such events of such power occur very rarely.

The Kamchatka office of the Geophysical Service told Itar-Tass that there were no reports about such quakes in the past 20 years. According to the preliminary information, quakes of such magnitude were not reported over the period of monitoring since 1961.