Earthquake strikes off eastern Russia

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake has struck in a remote region south of the Kuril islands off eastern Russia, the US Geological Survey says.

There were no immediate tsunami warnings issued. The quake struck 177km south of Severo-Kuril'sk at a depth of 33km on Thursday morning. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The earthquake was later downgraded to a magnitude 6.3.