INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Russia's Far East Kamchatka Peninsula early Sunday morning local time, according to the
regional earthquake monitoring service.The local emergencies ministry said tremors were felt along the coast including in the region's
capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky."Operational teams of rescuers and firefighters are inspecting buildings," the regional branch of Russia's
7:00 am local time, some 90 Kilometers east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the United States Geological Survey reported.The United States
National Tsunami Warning Center had initially issued a tsunami threat, but later said the threat had passed
Local authorities never issued a tsunami alert.Several aftershocks were recorded after the initial quake, but of lower intensity, the
Kamchatka branch of Russia's Unified Geophysical Service reported on its website.The peninsula lies on a seismically active belt
surrounding most of the Pacific Ocean known as the "Ring of Fire," and is home to more than two dozen active volcanoes.
