Russia's Severo-Kurilsk evacuated as first tsunami waves spotted after terrifying 8.7 maginitude earthquake rocks nation | VIDEO

Russia suffered a massive 8.7 earthquake on Tuesday (Jul 29), which has left people shaken and has triggered tsunami warnings in the nation, along with Japan, and the United States. Terrifying visuals on social media not only show buildings shaking but also the first tsunami waves hitting the Russian coast along Severo-Kurilsk. Russia's emergency ministry, in a statement, confirmed that on the nation's far east coast, a port town has been flooded by tsunami waters. The epicentre of this strong quake, as per the United States Geological Survey (USGS) was located 133 km southeast of Petropavlovsk‑Kamchatsky in Russia, at a depth of 74 km.

The mega-quake, as per the regional seismic monitoring service, was the region's strongest since 1952. It also warned that aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude were possible. "The strongest earthquake since 1952 has just occurred in the Kamchatka seismic zone ...Given the scale of the event, strong aftershocks with a magnitude of up to 7.5 should be expected," Kamchatka's geophysical service said on Telegram.

Tsunami in Russia?

In its statement, the Russian emergency ministry said, “The tsunami flooded parts of the port town of Severo-Kurilsk ... The population has been evacuated.” The town is home to around 2,000 people.

Unverified videos on X show stills purportedly from before and after the tsunami waves hit the region. However, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media.

In Russia's far eastern Sakhalin region, a state of emergency has been declared. Authorities sounded the alert in the northern Kuril Islands, where tsunami waves have damaged buildings and caused flooding. "A state of emergency has been declared in the North Kuril District, where an earthquake and tsunami occurred today," said the Sakhalin government in a statement. In another statement, Alexander Ovsyannikov, the mayor of Russia's northern Kuril islands district, said that "everyone" there had evacuated to safety following a tsunami which caused flooding and swept away buildings. "Everyone was evacuated. There was enough time, a whole hour. So everyone was evacuated, all the people are in the tsunami safety zone," he said at a crisis meeting with officials.