British News Agency

On Wednesday, a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, prompting a series of tsunami warnings and evacuation orders across Japan, the US West Coast, and several parts of the Pacific Ocean. Waves up to four meters high were reported in distant regions.

The US Geological Survey said the quake, one of the strongest ever recorded, occurred at a depth of 19.3 km and was centered 126 km east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski on Russia’s Avacha Bay coast.

Russia’s Regional Emergency Minister Sergey Lebedev said tsunami waves ranging from 3 to 4 meters were recorded in parts of Kamchatka and many people were injured.

Regional Health Minister Oleg Melnikov said, “Unfortunately, some people were injured during the quake. Some were hurt while running outside, and one patient jumped from a window. A woman was also injured inside the new airport terminal.”

Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov called the quake “serious and the strongest in decades” in a Telegram post, noting that a kindergarten was also damaged.

The US Tsunami Warning System issued an alert for “dangerous tsunami waves” expected along the coasts of Russia, Japan, Alaska, and Hawaii within three hours. Warnings were also issued for Guam and Micronesia. The US Tsunami Warning Center said waves up to three meters might reach Ecuador, and sirens sounded in Hawaii urging people to evacuate coastal areas.

In Japan, evacuation orders were issued for much of the country’s eastern coastline, previously devastated by the 2011 quake and tsunami. Authorities said over 900,000 residents in 133 municipalities along the Pacific coast were under evacuation orders.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, “Those near the coast in areas from Hokkaido to Wakayama Prefecture must evacuate immediately to higher ground or safe buildings. Please remember that the second and third tsunami waves may be even higher than the first.”

The Japan Meteorological Agency raised its warning level, expecting tsunami waves up to three meters, though only 40 cm waves were recorded so far.

The agency said waves up to 40 cm were detected at 16 locations along the Pacific coast from Hokkaido to just northeast of Tokyo, warning that larger waves could follow.

Workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was affected by the 2011 tsunami and is undergoing decommissioning, were evacuated, though no abnormalities were observed.

Wednesday’s quake occurred about 250 km from Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands, and was barely felt according to NHK.

Footage broadcast by TBS showed factory workers and residents in Hokkaido evacuating to a hill overlooking the ocean.

A news anchor on Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said, “Please evacuate quickly. If you can move to higher ground and away from the coast, do so now.”

The Alaska-based National Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for parts of the Aleutian Islands and parts of the US West Coast, including California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii.

The alert also covered large portions of the coastline, including parts of northwestern Alaska.

Shinichi Sakai, a seismologist at the University of Tokyo, told NHK that a distant earthquake with a shallow epicenter could still trigger a tsunami affecting Japan.

Kamchatka and Russia’s Far East lie on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Japan, also part of this region, is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.

In early July, five strong underwater quakes occurred near Kamchatka, the largest measuring 7.4 magnitude. That quake struck at a depth of 20 km and was centered 144 km east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski, a city of 180,000 people.

On November 4, 1952, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Kamchatka generated 9.1-meter waves in Hawaii but caused no reported fatalities.