Tsunami alert after powerful quakes strike off coast of Russia

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a warning for Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula after two quakes — the larger with a magnitude of 7.4 — struck in the sea nearby on Sunday (July 20, 2025).

The larger quake was at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles) and was 144 kilometers (89 miles) east of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000.

Earlier 5.0-magnitude and 6.7-magnitude earthquakes did not initially trigger a tsunami alert, but were followed by a 7.4-magnitude quake at 0849 GMT, prompting the USGS to warn that “hazardous tsunami waves are possible” within 300 kilometres (186 miles) of the epicentre in the Pacific, off the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.