Powerful Earthquake Hits off Far East Coast of Russia, Though No Early Reports of Damage

This photo provided by the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, shows the eruption of the Shiveluch volcano reportedly caused by 7.0-magnitude earthquake about 102 kilometers (63 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia. (IVS FEB RAS via AP)
This photo provided by the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, shows the eruption of the Shiveluch volcano reportedly caused by 7.0-magnitude earthquake about 102 kilometers (63 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia. (IVS FEB RAS via AP)
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Powerful Earthquake Hits off Far East Coast of Russia, Though No Early Reports of Damage

This photo provided by the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, shows the eruption of the Shiveluch volcano reportedly caused by 7.0-magnitude earthquake about 102 kilometers (63 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia. (IVS FEB RAS via AP)
This photo provided by the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, shows the eruption of the Shiveluch volcano reportedly caused by 7.0-magnitude earthquake about 102 kilometers (63 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia. (IVS FEB RAS via AP)

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 struck in the Pacific off the far eastern coast of Russia near a major naval base early Sunday, but there were no early reports of damage or injuries.

The quake prompted a tsunami warning that was later lifted.

The earthquake occurred 18 miles (29 kilometers) below the surface and its epicenter was about 63 miles (102 kilometers) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the US Geological Survey said.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is a port city of more than 181,000 people surrounded by volcanoes and sits across a bay from an important Russian submarine base.

The US National Weather Service's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu initially warned that hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts within 300 miles (480 kilometers) of the earthquake epicenter, but later announced the threat had ended.

The center said minor sea level fluctuations could occur in some coastal areas near the earthquake site for several hours.



Report: Belarus’ Lukashenko Says Nearly a Third of Army Sent to Ukraine Border

In this pool photograph distributed on July 26, 2024, by Russian state owned Sputnik agency Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a candle as he visits Valaam Monastery with the Russian President, in northern Russia on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed on July 26, 2024, by Russian state owned Sputnik agency Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a candle as he visits Valaam Monastery with the Russian President, in northern Russia on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Report: Belarus’ Lukashenko Says Nearly a Third of Army Sent to Ukraine Border

In this pool photograph distributed on July 26, 2024, by Russian state owned Sputnik agency Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a candle as he visits Valaam Monastery with the Russian President, in northern Russia on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed on July 26, 2024, by Russian state owned Sputnik agency Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a candle as he visits Valaam Monastery with the Russian President, in northern Russia on July 25, 2024. (AFP)

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Sunday that Ukraine had stationed more than 120,000 troops at its border with Belarus and Minsk had deployed nearly a third of its armed forces along the entire border, the Belta state news agency reported.

He did not say exactly how many troops were deployed. Belarus' professional army has about 48,000 troops and around 12,000 state border troops, according to the 2022 International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance.

"Seeing their aggressive policy, we have introduced there and placed in certain points - in case of war, they would be defense - our military along the entire border," Belta cited Lukashenko as saying in an interview with Russian state television.

Kyiv did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. On Saturday Kyiv said it had seen no signs of a Belarusian troop buildup at the border.

The Belarusian leader, a staunch ally of Vladimir Putin, was speaking against the backdrop of a Ukrainian incursion into Russia that began on Aug. 6 when thousands of Kyiv's troops smashed through Russia's western border in a major embarrassment for Putin's top military brass.

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said on Friday there was a high probability of an armed provocation from neighboring Ukraine and that the situation at their shared border "remains tense".

Lukashenko said the Belarusian-Ukrainian border is mined "as never before" and that Ukrainian troops would incur huge losses if they tried to cross it.