Russia: Evacuation in Kurils over tsunami alert

Moscow, Nov 15: Russian rescuers have started evacuating people in the South Kurils over tsunami alert after a powerful earthquake in the Pacific, local rescue services said today.

RIA Novosti news agency reported quoting Russian Emergency Situations Ministry that the earthquake measured 8.1 to 8.5 on the richter scale.

''No victims have been reported yet,'' it said.

Rescuers on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, to the north of the Kurils, said it was far enough to the earthquake's epicentre to be hit by the possible tsunami.

Meteorologists on Russia's Sakhalin Island, located to the west of the Kurils, said they could feel tremors about 390 kilometres from the Iturup Island of the South Kurils.

''We have no information yet about signs of a tsunami, but we have left the alert in force,'' an official said.

He also said Severo-Kurilsk, in the North Kurils, had been hit by an earthquake measuring three on the richter scale.

UNI

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