Major earthquake off eastern Russia, tsunami warning issued

The epicenter of the quake was 21.7 miles (35 km) deep and 266 miles (428 km) south of Severo-Kuril'sk in the Kuril Islands, which also lie northeast of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.

There was no immediate tsunami warning from the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

USGS said earlier the quake was 7.7 magnitude and then 7.5 magnitude but later revised that downwards.

"The tsunami station... has issued a warning in connection with the earthquake felt in Petropavlovsk," the regional office of Russia's emergency situations ministry was quoted as saying.

Magnitude Date-Time Location Depth Region Distances Location Uncertainty Parameters Source Event ID

7.3

Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 17:49:39 UTC Friday, January 16, 2009 at 03:49:39 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

46.888°N, 155.167°E

35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program

EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS

430 km (265 miles) S of Severo-Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands, Russia 595 km (370 miles) ENE of Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands 1785 km (1110 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan 7245 km (4490 miles) NE of MOSCOW, Russia

horizontal +/- 5.2 km (3.2 miles); depth fixed by location program

NST=161, Nph=161, Dmin=728.1 km, Rmss=0.82 sec, Gp= 36°, M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=6

USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

us2009bwa8

Russian expansionism into the Kuril Islands began in the early 18th century. Control switched between the Russian and Japanese Empires several times, until the Soviet Union finally asserted dominance by force at the end of the Second World War. Japan maintains a territorial claim to four of the southernmost islands (Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and the Khabomai Rocks). Collectively, these four sites in Japan are known as the "northernmost territories".

To this day, Russia and Japan have been unable to conclude a peace treaty, formally ending the hostilities of the Second World War, due to the dispute over sovereignty over the Kuril Islands.

In the early post-Soviet years, Russia indicated that it might be willing to negotiate away Shikotan and Khabomai (but not the other two islands claimed by Japan). This position has since hardened, and negotiations over recent years have shown no sign of progress.