TOKYO – The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning Wednesday for the country’s Pacific coast after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
The quake occurred around 126 kilometers east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of about 20 km, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tsunami waves measuring up to 4 meters were detected off southeastern Kamchatka, with several people injured, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.
Tsunami waves of up to 3 meters could arrive in areas stretching from Hokkaido in northern Japan to Wakayama Prefecture in western Japan and the Ogasawara Islands in the south, according to Japan’s weather agency.
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency
In Nemuro, eastern Hokkaido, a 30-centimeter tsunami was observed at 10:30 a.m., the agency said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a hastily arranged press conference that the government is confirming the situation, while calling on people in areas covered by the warning to evacuate to higher ground.
The weather agency called at a separate press conference for people to evacuate from coastal areas subject to the warning.
Railway companies JR East and JR Central halted some train services after the tsunami warning was issued.
Jolts of 2 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale of 7 were observed in Hokkaido, northern Japan, the agency said.
AloJapan.com