A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.0 has struck near the Kuril Islands in the north Pacific.
There was no official tsunami warning, but local tsunamis could threaten coastlines within 100km of the epicentre, the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Russian seismologists put the magnitude of the quake at 6.8, according to RIA Novosti news agency, which said it happened near the uninhabited volcanic island of Simushir.
The quake hit 295km northeast of the town of Kurilsk at a depth of 39km at 4.23 GMT (5.23am Irish time).
The Kuril Islands are the site of frequent earthquakes.
The southern part of the archipelago is the subject of a territorial dispute between Moscow and Tokyo dating back to World War II, but Simushir lies north of the disputed area and is agreed by both sides to be Russian territory.
