Powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake off coast of Russia picked up by Pennsylvania seismograph
A powerful earthquake off the coast of Russia that prompted tsunami warnings was picked up by a Pennsylvania seismograph.
The 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and prompted tsunami alerts for Japan and warnings for Hawaii and parts of Alaska.
Approximately 5,000 miles away, the earthquake was picked by a seismograph operated by the University of Pittsburgh at the Allegheny Observatory.
This WAS the earthquake. Here is a closer view: https://t.co/tOf4bP5BhU pic.twitter.com/ijakjVm3m9
— Ray Petelin (@RayPetelinWx) July 30, 2025
KDKA First Alert Meteorologist Ray Petelin said it likely would take around 10 to 15 minutes for the shockwaves to travel from the epicenter of the earthquake to the Pittsburgh area.
"You wouldn't have felt it, but it did register," Petelin said.
Louis Coban, an electronics technician at the observatory, says the facility has two seismographs, one of which belongs to Penn State University.
Tuesday's earthquake was the strongest in the world in nearly 15 years
The earthquake appeared to be the strongest anywhere in the world since the March 2011 earthquake off northeast Japan that measured 9.0 magnitude and caused a massive tsunami that set off meltdowns at a Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Only a few stronger earthquakes have ever been measured around the world.
Over a week ago, five powerful quakes — the largest with a magnitude of 7.4 — struck Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. And earlier this month, a tsunami advisory for Alaska's southern peninsula was issued after a major earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 hit the Aleutian Islands area.
On Nov. 4, 1952, a magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii.