A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula triggered 4-metre (13-foot) tsunami waves and sparked evacuation orders in Hawaii and across the Pacific on Wednesday.
The shallow earthquake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan’s eastern seaboard – devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 – was ordered to evacuate.
In Hawaii, coastal residents were told to get to high ground or the fourth floor or above of buildings, and the U.S. Coast Guard ordered ships out of harbours as the tsunami approached.
“Take Action! Destructive tsunami waves expected,” the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management said on X. No major waves were seen along the western-most of the major Hawaiian islands just before sunset when the first tsunami was expected to hit, live footage showed.
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AloJapan.com