PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, August 1. /TASS/. Approximately 120 aftershocks that followed the July 30 earthquake were registered in Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula in the past 24 hours, the regional department of the Russian emergencies ministry said.
"Over the past 24 hours, some 120 aftershocks with the magnitude between 3.5 and 6.7 were registered. In populated areas, some of them were felt as seismic events of magnitude 2-5," the department said.
According to the scientists, seismic activity in the region is now on decline, although it is still intense. The aftershock process in the wake of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake is expected to last for several months.
A powerful earthquake struck off Kamchatka’s coast on the morning of July 30. According to the authorities, it measured at 8.8, becoming the strongest earthquake to hit the region since 1952. The Kamchatka branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Service estimated the magnitude of the quake at 8.7. The disaster left one person injured, the regional Health Ministry said. A state of high alert was declared in Kamchatka, while a state of emergency was declared in the Severo-Kurilsky District of the neighboring Sakhalin Region. The quake triggered a tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, which prompted the authorities in Japan, the US and the Philippines to issue tsunami warnings.