An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 was recorded near the Southern Kuril Islands

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 occurred off the coast of the Southern Kuril Islands. This was announced on July 4 by Elena Semenova, head of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk seismological station.

"An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 occurred in the Pacific Ocean at 08:09 (00:09 Moscow time) on July 4," she told RIA Novosti.

It is specified that the epicenter of the seismic event was located 61 km southwest of the uninhabited island of Simushir. The source was located at a depth of 166 km.

Semenova stressed that there was no data on the magnitude of the earthquake. She also added that the tsunami threat had not been announced.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) reported on July 2 that a 4.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the south of the Kuril Islands. Its epicenter was located 133 km northeast of the city of Kurilsk on the island of Iturup, which is home to at least 1.6 thousand people.