People flee in panic as strong earthquake shakes Sakhalin, Russia’s largest island

A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was registered in the north of Sakhalin close to the village of Voskhod, Tymovsky district at 10km depth. 

‘The shakes felt so sharpe that people in settlements of Tymovskoye and Krasnya Tym’, closest to the epicentre, were running out of houses half-dressed. 

‘Houses jumped, people ran out wearing whatever they had on. 

‘Everyone was crying, this is the first time I saw anything like this’, eye witness Mingiyan Muchkayev told Sakhalin-Kurily news agency.

Social media were flooded with videos of people running out of a local shop and CCTV camera footage showed shelves collapsing. 

‘Even my teeth are shaking, everyone is outdoors.

'I fell down, it felt like was an 8-point strong earthquake. I am just thinking, I am on the fourth floor, I’ve got nowhere much to jump. Hopefully we’ll survive it’, said one of the people living in Tymovskoye.

Two aftershocks were registered later last night. 

There were no casualties or major destruction, said mayor of Tymovskoye Sergey Lazarev.