Today at about 11:30am local time, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in the country’s far east. Originating at a depth of roughly 20 kilometres, today’s powerful earthquake – among the ten strongest in recorded history and the largest worldwide since 2011 – has caused building damage and injuries in the largest nearby city,

Tremors are regularly reported in this remote Russian peninsula dotted with volcanoes, some of which erupt every year.

Kamchatka is a 1,250-kilometre-long peninsula located in the Far East of Russia. The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk serve as the eastern and western coastlines of the peninsula, respectively.