MOSCOW, Sept. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- An earthquake measuring 6.5 points on the Richter scale struck the Kuril Islands in the Far East of Russia on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties and damage, the Interfax news agency said.

    The earthquake occurred 175 km southeast of the town of Severo-Kurilsk on the Kuril Islands at around 1:17 p.m. Moscow time (0917GMT) on Thursday, Viktor Beltsov from the press service of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry was quoted as saying.

    According to Beltsov, the earthquake wave in Severo-Kurilsk reached four points on the Richter scale. No casualties or damage have been reported yet.

    Meanwhile, the Russian ministry predicted a major earthquake inthe Far Eastern peninsula of Kamchatka for the end of this year. Enditem