Earthquakes Hit Russia and California

A major earthquake hit Russia’s far east Friday, its tremors spreading as far as Moscow—7,000 kilometers west of the epicenter in the Sea of Okhotsk. A spokeswoman for the Russian Academy of Science’s seismic station told the AP that the quake had a magnitude of 8.0, while the U.S. Geological Survey reported that it registered 8.2. According to Russian news agencies, schools on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Okhotsk Sea—a hotbed for seismic activity—were evacuated as residents felt about five minutes' worth of tremors. Meanwhile, residents of the small Northern California towns of Greenville and Canyondam felt the tremors of a magnitude 5.7 quake late Thursday night.