PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, May 10 (RIA Novosti, Oksana Guseva) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale rocked the northern part of the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East early Wednesday, emergencies services said.
The quake's epicenter was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the small town of Khailino in the sparsely populated Koryak Autonomous Area, nine time zones away from Moscow, the spokesman said.
Contact with the town has been lost, he said.
A series of major earthquakes rocked Kamchatka and Koryakia in the last three weeks. The first 7.8-magnitude quake April 21 with an epicenter about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Khailino, the strongest since 1900 in the Koryak area, injured 31 people and damaged about 380 houses and 25 administrative facilities in the towns of Tilichiki, Korf, Ossora, and Khailino.
According to the emergency services, over 1,200 people, including 542 children, have been evacuated from the emergency zone since April 21.
