Huge earthquake hits east of Russia with tremors felt as far away as Moscow

The magnitude 8.2 quake was located in the Sea of Okhotsk, just to the west of the Kamchatka Peninsula

A huge earthquake has hit Russia's Far East resulting in tremors being felt as far away as Moscow, about 7,000 kilometres (4,400 miles) west of the epicentre.

The magnitude 8.2 quake was located in the Sea of Okhotsk, just to the west of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and about 600 kilometers (nearly 375 miles) underground.

It was felt for around five minutes in the region, Russia's Ria Novosti news agency reported and caused many people to run into the streets in panic. School children were evacuated.

Tremors were felt in Moscow, prompting some people to evacuate from buildings across the city.

Quake tremors are extremely rare in Moscow, the last recorded instance was in 1977.

No tsunami warnings were issued.

A second smaller 5.7 magnitude quake also struck the US hitting California's Plumas County at 8.47pm local time.