A magnitude 6.1 quake was recorded east of Matua, followed about an hour later by a magnitude 4.6 event near Shikotan.
Two earthquakes, measuring magnitude 6.1 and 4.6, struck the Pacific near the Kuril Islands about an hour apart. The stronger tremor was recorded at 3:48 a.m. Wednesday Sakhalin time. Its epicenter was 149 kilometers east of uninhabited Matua Island, with a focus 20 kilometers below the seabed.
The Sakhalin branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Survey said the first quake may have been felt at up to three points in Severo-Kurilsk. About an hour later, a magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred east of Malokurilskoye village on Shikotan; residents there may also have felt the shaking.
No damage was reported and no tsunami threat was announced. NTV and Interfax reported the two events and their possible intensity, citing the geophysical service.