Swarm of earthquakes registered in Russian Far East after major quake

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, July 18. /TASS/. Seismologists are registering the so-called earthquake swarm in the epicenter of a major quake in the area of the Aleutian Ridge, the Kamchatka branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Service told Tass on Tuesday. Three major quakes measuring 4.8, 4.9 and 5.4 have been fixed already. Smaller tremors are also registered, its source said. The source said it is not yet clear whether these are aftershocks, earth tremors following a major quake, or foreshocks that come ahead of a more powerful quake. According to the emergencies ministry’s center in the Kamchatka region, the tsunami alert has been lifted and no new tsunami danger is expected. There has been no destruction to Nikolskoye township on Bering Island. A 7-magnitude quake was registered in the Bering Sea on Tuesday morning, 300 kilometers southeast of Nikolskoye, according to specified data. Earth tremors were felt in regional center Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and several other local settlements of the Kamchatka peninsula. A tsunami wave about 50 centimeters high was expected to reach the coast. Read more