PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, April 22 (RIA Novosti) - People affected by powerful earthquakes in the north of the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East over the last two days will spend the night in tents, emergency services said Saturday.

"People are afraid to spend the night under their own roofs," a local official said, adding that tent cities had been set up for them.

The evacuees will have to brave temperatures of well below zero.

The initial 7.8-magnitude quake, the strongest since 1900 in the Koryak area, which is eight time zones from Moscow, injured at least 31 people and damaged several buildings and facilities in the towns of Tilichiki, and Korf, and Ossora.

The latest in the series of quakes in the area struck at 8:21 p.m. local time (7:21 a.m. GMT), near the town of Khailino.

Seismologists have warned of stronger quakes still to come.

Rescuers plan to evacuate 600 people from the affected region by the end of the weekend.