A powerful earthquake struck the Far East on July 30, causing significant damage and prompting evacuations. The earthquake, the strongest in 70 years, registered a magnitude of 8.7 and triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the Pacific Ocean, 360 km northeast of Severo-Kurilsk, at a depth of 17 km. Residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky experienced tremors of 7-8 points, while Sakhalin felt tremors up to 5-6 points.

Eyewitnesses in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky described feeling intense shaking that lasted for about a minute. One resident, Elena, reported that small objects fell in her apartment and that car alarms and dogs were triggered. She also noted that many people evacuated the city, causing significant traffic jams.

Another resident, Anastasia, experienced the earthquake in an office building. She said that most people immediately ran outside, while some panicked. Upon returning home, she found that cabinets had opened, but there was minimal damage.

Journalist Anna Lenskaya shared reports from colleagues in Severo-Kurilsk, indicating that stoves and chimneys collapsed, windows were blown out, and walls cracked. Residents in that area evacuated to higher ground due to the tsunami threat. The port bay was flooded, and the fish processing plant and ships were affected.

TV presenter Yulia Baranovskaya, who was in Kamchatka with her children, experienced the earthquake while returning from an expedition on the water. She described the coastal cliffs crumbling and a general sense of confusion.

Sergey Tikhotsky, Director of the Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stated that the earthquake was an expected event. A state of emergency has been declared in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the Severo-Kurilsk district of the Sakhalin region.