Russia Japan Tsunami live updates: The Japan Meteorological Agency said a first tsunami wave of about 30 centimeters reached Nemuro on the eastern coast of Hokkaido. Damage and evacuations were reported in the Russian regions nearest the quake’s epicenter on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck at 8:24 am (2304 GMT Tuesday) off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s remote Kamchatka peninsula and was one of the 10 biggest recorded, according to the USGS. Russian authorities said a tsunami hit and flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk.
Officials from countries with a Pacific coastline in North and South America — including the United States, Mexico and Ecuador — issued warnings to avoid affected beaches.
In Japan, people evacuated by car or on foot to higher ground — including in Hokkaido, where a first wave measuring 30 centimetres was observed.
At least six aftershocks have further rattled the region, including one of 6.9 magnitude and another listed at 6.3.
The US Tsunami Warning Centers said waves exceeding three metres above the tide level were possible along some coasts of Ecuador, northwestern Hawaiian islands and Russia.
The quake at 8:25 am Japan time had a preliminary magnitude of 8.0, Japan and US seismologists said. The US Geological Survey later updated its measurement to 8.8 magnitude and the USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of 20.7 kilometers.
The quake was about 119 kilometers away from the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000, on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
AloJapan.com