A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 hit the Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of Russia near a significant naval base on Sunday, but there have been no early reports of injuries or damage. The quake triggered a tsunami warning which was later canceled. The earthquake struck at a depth of 18 miles (29 kilometers) and its epicenter was approximately 63 miles (102 kilometers) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a port city with over 181,000 residents, is surrounded by volcanoes and faces a Russian submarine base across the bay.
The U.S. National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu initially cautioned that dangerous tsunami waves could affect coasts within 300 miles (480 kilometers) of the earthquake’s epicenter, before later confirming that the threat had passed. The center mentioned the possibility of minor sea level variations in coastal areas near the earthquake location for a few hours.