Strong M6.5 earthquake hits Kamchatka, Russia
Image credit: TW/SAM, Google
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.5 hit Kamchatka, Russia at 03:06 UTC on April 3, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 105.6 km (65 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.5 at a depth of 100 km (62 miles).
The epicenter was located 10 km (6.2 miles) SSE of Vilyuchinsk (population 25 200) and 28 km (17.4 miles) SSW of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (population 187 000).
218 000 people are estimated to have felt strong shaking and 49 000 moderate.
The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities. There is a low likelihood of casualties.
A Yellow alert was issued for economic losses. Some damage is possible and the impact should be relatively localized. Estimated economic losses are less than 1% of GDP of Russia. Past events with this alert level have required a local or regional level response.
Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are resistant to earthquake shaking, though vulnerable structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are adobe block and unreinforced brick with mud construction.
Estimated population exposure to earthquake shaking
Selected cities exposed
Regional seismicity
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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