A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, prompting tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean, including Japan and the United States.
According to Kamchatka Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Lebedev, the earthquake occurred at a relatively shallow depth of 18 kilometers and generated tsunami waves 3 to 4 meters high in the region.
"Today's earthquake was serious, the strongest the region has seen in decades," Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on Telegram.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the current earthquake is the sixth most powerful earthquake in history, equal in magnitude to the 2010 Biobio earthquake in Chile and the 1906 earthquake in the Esmeraldas region of Ecuador.
Three tsunamis struck the coastal town of Severo-Kurilsk in Russia, which has a population of about 2,000.
Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported that the third wave was "powerful," damaging port infrastructure and sweeping several ships out to sea.
Several people were also injured in Russia, some during evacuations, including a woman who jumped from a window.
The region's Health Minister, Oleg Melnikov, confirmed that all those infected are in "stable condition," and no serious injuries have been reported so far.
Initial images from Kamchatka showed that a kindergarten building in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was damaged by the earthquake.
Wednesday's earthquake was the strongest in the region since 1952, and authorities warned of the possibility of strong aftershocks.
The Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Kamchatka said that "strong and noticeable aftershocks may continue for at least a month, and their magnitude may reach 7.5."
The first tsunami wave hit the coast of Japan, reaching a height of about 30 centimeters, reaching the coastal city of Nemuro in the northeast of Hokkaido. Japanese authorities had previously warned that subsequent waves could reach heights of up to 3 meters.
Evacuation orders in Japan extended to hundreds of kilometers along its Pacific coast, from Hokkaido in the north to Wakayama Prefecture in the south.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, announced that it had evacuated all employees, confirming that no abnormal signs had been recorded so far.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant was the site of a major nuclear disaster in 2011, following a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that swept across Japan's east coast.
In the United States, parts of Hawaii and Alaska have been placed under the highest warning level, meaning immediate action is needed to protect lives and property by moving to higher ground.
California, Oregon, and Washington were subject to less severe warnings, warning of the possibility of strong ocean currents and dangerous waves.
US President Donald Trump urged Americans to stay in safe places, writing on his Truth Social and X platforms: "Stay strong and safe!"
Reuters reported that some coastal areas in Hawaii are now under evacuation orders, and Hawaii Governor Josh Green addressed residents, saying, "I ask everyone to remain calm, and if you are in low-lying areas, please move to higher ground."
On Maui, American tourist D.L. Scales, who was vacationing in the Wailea area, told the BBC he was stuck in traffic with dozens of other tourists trying to reach safety.
"The situation is relatively calm, and everyone is trying to leave. I don't know exactly where people are going," he added, explaining that "the sirens went off minutes ago, which prompted people to move."
Scales noted that the only people who seemed to be panicking were some tourists.
Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones told the BBC that tsunamis could damage ports and waterfront properties in Hawaii, and possibly California, but she does not expect them to cause catastrophic loss of life in any part of the Americas.
She added that the height of the expected tsunami waves in Hawaii ranges between 3 and 10 feet (about 1 to 3 meters), while the waves in Santa Barbara, California, are expected to reach between 1 and 2 feet (about 30 to 60 centimeters).
For comparison, Jones noted that some of the 2011 tsunami waves in Japan reached heights of up to 42 feet (about 13 meters).
She explained, "It is not a wave, as some imagine, but rather a temporary rise in sea level."
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Residents evacuated in Japan and the United States after tsunami warnings from a powerful earthquake in eastern Russia.