Early on Wednesday, a magnitude 8.7 earthquake in Russia’s Far East triggered tsunami warnings in regions of Alaska, Hawaii, and Japan.
In the Russian regions closest to the epicenter, there were reports of damage and evacuations.
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Less than 30 minutes after the warning, waves as high as 3 meters (yards) might reach the northern Japanese beaches, according to a tsunami advisory issued by Japan’s meteorological service for the country’s Pacific coast.
According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in the United States, the earthquake created a tsunami that might harm all of the Hawaiian islands’ coastlines.
According to the warning, immediate action is necessary to safeguard people and property. Around 7:00 p.m. local time, the first waves were predicted to arrive.
According to Japanese and American seismologists, the earthquake, which struck at 8:25 a.m. Japan time, had a preliminary magnitude of 8.0. The USGS reported that the earthquake struck at a depth of 19.3 kilometers (12 miles), and Japan and the USGS later revised their assessments to 8.7 magnitude.
According to Japan’s NHK television, the earthquake was felt just faintly and was located roughly 250 kilometers (160 miles) from Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four large islands.
From Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the largest city close to the epicenter, Russia’s Tass news agency claimed that many people fled into the street without shoes or other protective clothing. Mirrors were smashed, cars trembled on the street, cabinets fell out of houses, and building balconies rocked visibly.
In the Kamchatka region’s capital, Tass also reported mobile phone service issues and power outages.
Additionally, Tass cited a local Russian official who stated that emergency services were operating at full capacity and that Sakhalin Island people were being evacuated.
The Alaska-based National Tsunami Warning Center issued a watch for areas of the West Coast, including California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as Hawaii, and a tsunami warning for parts of the Alaska Aleutian Islands.
A large portion of Alaska’s coast, including the panhandle, is also under the advisory.
Five strong earthquakes, the greatest of which had a magnitude of 7.4, occurred in the sea close to Kamchatka earlier in July. The greatest earthquake, which was 20 kilometers deep, occurred 144 kilometers (89 miles) east of the 180,000-person city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
On November 4, 1952, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Kamchatka triggered 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii, causing damage but no fatalities.
