ALERTS ACROSS THE GLOBE
Waves of up to 4m were recorded in parts of Russia’s Kamchatka region, prompting evacuations and damaging buildings, officials said.
“Today’s earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors,” Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.
He said a kindergarten was damaged and urged people to move away from the coastline. He also called for calm and said specialists were inspecting buildings to ensure safety.
Russia’s TASS news agency said several people suffered minor injuries, including those at a regional airport.
The US Tsunami Warning System similarly issued a warning of “hazardous tsunami waves” within the coming hours along some coasts of Hawaii.
The Honolulu Department of Emergency Management called for the evacuation of some coastal areas in Hawaii, saying “destructive” waves were expected.
The US further sounded the alarm with a series of alerts of varying levels along North America’s West Coast, from Alaska down to the entire coast of California.
Tsunami alerts were pushed to mobile phones in California, according to local AFP reporters.
“Tsunami waves reaching more than 3m above the tide level are possible along some coasts of northwestern Hawaiian islands … and Russia,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, describing the potential conditions as “hazardous”.
At least six aftershocks have further rattled the region, including one of 6.9-magnitude and another listed at 6.3.
The epicentre of the earthquake is roughly the same as a massive 9.0 temblor in 1952 which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the US Geological Survey.
“Given the scale of this event, we should expect strong aftershocks, possibly with magnitudes up to 7.5,” the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences said.
“Significant, noticeable aftershocks with magnitudes up to 7.5 are expected to continue for at least another month.”
AloJapan.com