Aug 4 (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.