MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. Seismologists have registered a 5.9-magnitude earthquakes east of Kunashir Island in the Southern Kurils, the Sakhalin branch of the Geophysical Service at the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Saturday.

"The earthquake's epicenter lay at a depth of 51 kilometers, some 124 kilometers to the north of Kunashir Island," it said. "The magnitude was 5.9."

According to the scientists, residential areas of the Southern Kurils were rocked by it. Residents in two settlements on Shikotan said to have felt a 3.0-magnitude tremor.

No tsunami alerts were issued.

The Saturday earthquake was third off the Kurils in the past two days. Earlier, a 5.2-magnitude earthquake was registered south of the city of Kurilsk, and then another one of 4.9 magnitude east off Onekotan Island.