KAMCHATKA: According to the regional earthquake monitoring service, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of the eastern Russian Kamchatka Peninsula shortly after 7:00 a.m. local time early Sunday (August 18).

The local emergency management ministry said earthquakes were felt along the coast, including in the region’s capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

“Rescue teams and firefighters are inspecting buildings,” the regional branch of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry in the Kamchatka region said on Telegram.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of nearly 50 kilometers, about 90 kilometers east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the United States Geological Survey reported.

The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center initially issued a tsunami warning, but later declared that the danger had passed. Local authorities never issued a tsunami warning.

After the first quake, several aftershocks were recorded, albeit of lower intensity, the Kamchatka branch of the Russian United Geophysical Service reported on its website.

The peninsula lies in a seismically active belt that surrounds most of the Pacific Ocean, known as the Ring of Fire, and is home to more than two dozen active volcanoes.