Moscow, October 13: An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 hit Russia's Kuril Islands on Saturday evening. According to a tweet by ANI, the quake occurred at 16:40 hours off eastern Russia. No casualties have been reported so far. The quake did not trigger a tsunami warning or any reports of property damage or injuries. More details awaited.

The Kuril Islands in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk. There are 56 islands and many minor rocks. While all the islands are currently under Russian jurisdiction, Japan claims the two southernmost large islands (Iturup and Kunashir) as part of its territory, as well as Shikotan and the Habomai islets. Indonesia Earthquake, Tsunami: 5,000 People Missing, Death Toll Reaches to 2,045.

Earlier this week, a similar quake occurred at a shallow depth of 17.5km some 151km to the south of the town of Severo-Kurilsk, the US Geological Survey (USGS)  reported. Reports inform that the local branch of the Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, however, reported that the quake struck at the depth of 74km (46 miles) and was felt as magnitude 4 in Severo-Kurilisk, a town with a population of some 2,500 residents.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 13, 2018 05:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).