Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleA powerful earthquake damaged Russia's Rybachiy submarine base, with satellite images showing a broken pier. The base is key for the Pacific Fleet.
(Reuters) -A nuclear submarine base in Russia's remote Far East region was damaged last week following one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit the area in decades, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing satellite images.
Photos captured by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite imaging firm, show damage to a floating pier at the Rybachiy submarine base on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the newspaper reported.
One section of the pier appears to have broken away from its anchor point. Aside from the damaged pier, the satellite imagery does not show any other major destruction.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate response from Russia's defence ministry outside business hours to a Reuters request for comment.
A very powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka coast on Wednesday triggered tsunami warnings as far away as French Polynesia and Chile, and was followed by an eruption of the most active volcano on the peninsula.
The Rybachiy nuclear submarine base, a strategic hub for Russia's Pacific Fleet, serves as a facility for the maintenance, deployment, and operations of the country's nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific region.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
A nuclear submarine base is a facility where nuclear-powered submarines are maintained, deployed, and operated. These bases are crucial for a nation's naval capabilities and strategic defense.
An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. They can cause significant damage, especially in populated areas.
Satellite imagery refers to images of the Earth or other planets collected by satellites. These images are used for various applications, including environmental monitoring, urban planning, and disaster assessment.
A tsunami warning is an alert issued to inform people of the potential for a tsunami, which is a series of large ocean waves typically caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
A strategic hub is a central location that serves as a focal point for operations, logistics, or management. In military terms, it often refers to a base that plays a key role in defense and operations.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
