Earthquake hits Kamchatka eastern coast, no casualties

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, July 14 (Itar-Tass) - There has been an
earthquake measuring 4.3 points at the eastern coast of Russia's Kamchatka
Peninsula. There have been no casualties or destruction and no tsunami
warning has been made, the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of
Sciences told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
The quake was registered on the night to July 14. The epicentre was
located in the Pacific Ocean some 130 kilometres east of
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of 33 kilometres.
The earthquake was not felt in populated localities in the Kamchatka
Territory.
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a 1,250-kilometer long peninsula in the
Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 square km. It lies between the
Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west. Immediately
offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 10,500 metre
deep Kuril-Kamchatka Trench.
The Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands, and Karaginsky Island
constitute the Kamchatka Territory (Krai) of the Russian Federation. The
majority of the 402,500 inhabitants are Russians, but there are also about
13,000 Koryaks. More than half of the population lives in
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (198,028 people) and nearby Yelizovo (41,533).
The Kamchatka peninsula contains the Volcanoes of Kamchatka UNESCO
World Heritage Site. Kamchatka receives up to 2,700 millimetres (110 in)
of precipitation per year. The summers are moderately cool, and the
winters tend to be rather stormy with rare amounts of lightning.
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