A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest recorded in recent history, shook Russia's eastern coast this Tuesday, generating a wave of tsunami alerts across much of the Pacific, including the entire state of Hawaii, areas of Alaska and several island and coastal nations from Asia to America.
The earthquake occurred at 1:24 p.m. Hawaii local time (8:24 a.m. Moscow time) about 140 kilometers (87 miles) east of Kamchatsky, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, a seismically active area in southeastern Russia, bordered by the Pacific Ocean, at a depth of 11 miles.
The seismic event has been classified by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as the strongest globally since the Tōhoku earthquake in Japan in 2011, which had a magnitude of 9.0 and caused the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
The first waves hit Japan and Russia
The first tsunami waves have reached Russia's eastern coast, flooding a small port town with about 2,000 inhabitants, according to the Russian Ministry of Emergencies. In Japan, the island of Hokkaido has also been hit by the waves, which led the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue evacuation orders for some coastal areas.
In live broadcasts, presenters from various television networks urged the population to seek shelter in elevated areas immediately. "Evacuate quickly. Move away from the coast and go up to higher ground," warned a presenter from Japanese public television. In Hokkaido, workers and residents were seen evacuating toward nearby hills.
Hawaii and Alaska under alert
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued tsunami warnings for all of Hawaii, where the first waves are estimated to arrive around 7:17 p.m. local time. Local authorities have asked residents and tourists to stay away from beaches, ports, and low-lying coastal areas.
