A Russian nuclear submarine base located in the country’s remote far eastern region sustained damage last week following one of the strongest earthquakes to strike the area in decades, The New York Times reports, citing satellite imagery.
Photos taken by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite imaging company, revealed visible damage to a floating pier at the Rybachiy submarine base on the Kamchatka Peninsula, a strategic facility for Russia’s Pacific Fleet. The images show a section of the pier having broken away from its mooring point. No other significant structural damage was detected in the satellite footage.
Magnitude-8.8 earthquake becomes one of most recorded
The magnitude-8.8 earthquake, which struck off Kamchatka’s eastern coast last Wednesday, was one of the most powerful ever recorded in the region. It prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific, including as far as French Polynesia and Chile, and was swiftly followed by an eruption of Kamchatka’s most active volcano.
Thanks to swift international disaster response efforts, the overall damage was relatively limited, with reports of only light injuries. However, Russia experienced the worst of the destruction. A tsunami swept through the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, inundating a local fish processing plant and dragging buildings and debris into the sea.
Footage aired by Russian state television showed the force of the water surge reaching a World War II monument situated roughly 400 metres inland.
Despite the earthquake being the most powerful in the region since 2011, casualties were minimal.
The Rybachiy submarine base plays a crucial role in maintaining, deploying, and operating Russia’s nuclear-powered submarines across the Pacific. The extent of the damage to the base remains unclear, and Russian authorities have yet to issue an official statement.
