Earthquake hits Kurli Island in Japan

Friday, December 29, 2023

The Kuril Islands of Japan were subjected to an earthquake on 27th December with a Richter scale magnitude of 6.3, as has been reported by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS).

The Kuril Island in Japan, also known as a haven for hundreds of different bird species, is a group of islands in the Russian Far East. 

The island has a population of about 20,000 people, and this earthquake shook them off. 

There happens to exist numerous active volcanoes, such as Golovnin Volcano, which features a crater with two lakes, may also be found on the islands. However, Kurli Island may appear serene on the surface, but when earthquakes happen in this state, then it is not so serene. 

The earthquake struck at a depth of 10 km at 2:45 pm (IST), as has been reported by the NCS. The epicentre of the earthquake happened to be located at latitude 44.36 and longitude 149.23, according to the NCS.

However, two earthquakes with magnitudes of 6.5 and 5.0 struck close to Japan’s coast in short succession, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), as they went on and told the media. In the Russian Far East, Sakhalin Oblast is in charge of administering the Kuril Islands. 

According to the USGS, two earthquakes occurred at 2:45 PM and 3:07 PM. The first, measuring magnitude 6.5, had its epicentre off the southeast coast of the Kuril Islands. The second, measuring magnitude 5.0, jolted the region.

The two earthquakes struck at a depth of 23.8 km, while the second one happened at 40 km in the same area, according to the USGS.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Taiwan was earlier on December 24 rocked by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3.

It reported that the epicentre of the earthquake was located at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles).

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