After a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, tsunami waves have reached the shores of Hawaii and California. The quake, which struck around 11:25 AM local time in Russia, is among the strongest ever recorded in the region.
Severo-Kurilsk, a Russian coastal town, experienced waves as high as 4 meters (13 feet), flooding the port and damaging a fish processing plant. Authorities quickly evacuated the town’s residents to safer areas.
In Japan, where tsunami fears run deep due to the catastrophic 2011 disaster, alerts were triggered again. The government initially ordered 1.9 million people to evacuate but has since scaled back warnings in several areas as wave activity began to settle. Still, evacuation orders remain in place in far-reaching countries like Colombia and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, a British cruise passenger in Hawaii described scenes of panic as tsunami sirens blared. “Everyone was just running back to the ship,” they told the BBC, reflecting the anxiety sparked across Pacific nations.
Despite the easing of alerts in some regions, the event has highlighted how quickly and widely the effects of an undersea quake can ripple through the Pacific Basin.
