Earthquake hits Poland, Lithuania

An earthquake measuring between four and five on the Richter scale on Tuesday hit Russia’s Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, which neighbours Poland and Lithuania, but there were no reports of damage or casualties, Russian emergency officials said. Inhabitants of the city of Kaliningrad rushed into the streets when they felt the powerful shockwaves but there was no panic. A first tremor struck at 1105 GMT and a second one shook the territory at 1333 GMT. A third weaker aftershock was recorded two minutes later. The epicentre of the first tremor was 40 kilometres southeast of the city of Kaliningrad, close to the border with Poland, the Russian geophysical service said. According to local officials, there was no damage reported in the nearby town of Latushkin. In Kaliningrad, schools suspended classes and the students went outside. In Vilnius in Lithuania, the head of the geological centre Juosas Mockevicius told that the seismic observation centre detected a tremor measuring four on the Richter scale at 1105 GMT. A second one recorded at 1340 GMT measured 5.3 on the Richter scale, "which is very powerful for Lithuania," he added. The effects were also felt in Riga, capital of Latvia, which neighbours northern Lithuania.