Russian ministry predicts quake, tsunami in Far East this year

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia’s Emergencies Ministry warned Friday, Jan 24, that an earthquake and ensuing tsunami are expected to hit Russia’s Far East this year, according to RIA Novosti.

The earthquake is predicted to strike off the southwestern coast of Sakhalin Island, to the north of the epicenter of a 2007 quake in the town of Nevelsk, the ministry said.

It was not immediately clear when the tsunami was expected, or whether it would pose any danger to local residents. The Nevelsk quake killed two people, injured dozens and left some 2,000 people homeless.

In March 2011, Sakhalin’s neighbor Japan was hit by a tsunami caused by a massive magnitude-9.0 undersea earthquake.

The tsunami claimed more than 15,000 lives and caused a number of explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant, leaking radiation into the atmosphere, soil and seawater.