YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2020) SAKHALINSK, Russia, May 14 (Sputnik) - A 4.9 magnitude earthquake was registered in the Pacific Ocean near Russia's Kuril Islands, the regional branch of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian academy of Sciences (GS RAS) told Sputnik on Thursday.
"The 4.9 magnitude earthquake was registered at 12:22 [01:22 GMT] near the Kuril Islands. The epicenter of the earthquake was located ... 154 kilometers [over 95 miles] east of the town of Severo-Kurilsk on the Island of Paramushir. The epicenter laid at a depth of 55 kilometers," a head of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk seismological station said.
The head of the station added that residents of Severo-Kurilsk had felt the 2.0 magnitude tremors.
The Kuril Islands are located in a seismically active zone known as the Ring of Fire, which is regularly affected by powerful earthquakes. On November 5, 1952, the 9.0 magnitude earthquake triggered a huge tsunami that devastated Severo-Kurilsk, leaving more than 2,300 people killed.
