6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Russia's Kamchatka coast

An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Kamchatka in Russia's Far East region, with no reports so far of damage, casualties, or a tsunami threat, local authorities said on Friday.

According to preliminary data released by the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the earthquake occurred at 16:24 local time (0424 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean.

The tremors, with an intensity of up to five points, were felt in places including Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yelizovo, Vilyuchinsk, and several settlements in the Yelizovo district.

The epicenter of the quake was located approximately 126 km from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, at a depth of around 27 km beneath the seabed