Massive earthquake hits eastern Russia

A major earthquake hit a distant, sparsely-populated region of Russia’s Far East early today, causing unknown damage and casualties.

The US Geologic Survey and Japan’s Meteorological Agency estimated the temblor to be about 7.7-magnitude.

The quake hit at around 12.30pm local time (12.30am Irish time) in the Koryak region, 4,350 miles east of Moscow and 625 miles north of the largest city in the area, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, said Oleg Kotosanov, a duty officer with the regional emergency situations ministry.

Kotosanov said there were reports of damage in some villages of the Pacific region and that emergency staff were flying by helicopter to several locations. Government emergency officials in Moscow said they had no information about the quake.

Russian news agencies said in the coastal village of Tilichiki, structures and buildings including a school, a hospital and a local airport had been partially or wholly destroyed, along with municipal electric and heating systems. The agencies said some injuries had been reported.

Russia’s north Pacific coast sits along a major tectonic plate and is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

“It’s the largest event in this area since 1900,” US Geological Survey spokeswoman AB Wade said.

“It’s a sparsely-populated area; up to 2,000 people were exposed to intensive shaking.”

By comparison, the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, which destroyed more than half of the city’s buildings and left between 3,000 and 6,000 people dead, was estimated at a magnitude of between 7.7 and 7.9.

The USGS said the quake occurred about 30 miles below the surface of the Earth.