A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula has triggered tsunami waves of up to 5 metres and sparked evacuation orders in Russia, Japan and Hawaii and alerts across the Pacific.
Wednesday's quake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard - devastated by a 9.0 magnitude tremor and tsunami in 2011, was ordered to evacuate.
The first death attributed to today's quake has been reported. Broadcaster Asahi TV said 58-year-old woman died when her car fell off a cliff while she was evacuating in central Japan's Mie prefecture.
The US Geological Survey said Wednesday's quake was shallow at a depth of 19.3km and centred 119km east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000 people. It revised the magnitude up from 8.0 earlier, and reported a series of strong aftershocks up to a magnitude of 6.9. There have been at least 30 additional tremors.
A resident in the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky said the shaking went on for several minutes.
"I decided to leave the building," said Yaroslav, 25. "It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least 3 minutes."
Video footage released by the region's health ministry showed a team of medics in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky performing surgery as the tremors shook their equipment and the floor beneath them.
Verified drone footage showed the town's entire shoreline was submerged, with taller buildings and some storage facilities surrounded by water, which was seen pouring back into the sea.
"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.
Threat passes in Hawaii
In Hawaii, waves of up to 1.7 metres impacted the islands before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reduced its warning level for the state, saying no major tsunami was expected.
Coastal residents were earlier told to get to high ground or the fourth floor or above of buildings, and the US Coast Guard ordered ships out of harbours.
Flights out of Honolulu airport resumed later, the transportation department said, while the main airport in Maui remained closed with passengers sheltering in the terminal.
Tsunami waves of nearly half a metre were observed as far as California, with smaller ones reaching Canada's province of British Columbia.
Warnings across the Pacific
Earlier in the day, tsunami alarms sounded in coastal towns across Japan's Pacific coast and evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of people.
Workers evacuated the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster, operator TEPCO said.
Footage on public broadcaster NHK showed scores of people in the northern island of Hokkaido on the roof of a building, sheltering under tents from the beating sun, as fishing boats left harbours to avoid potential damage from the incoming waves.
Automaker Nissan Motor suspended operations at certain domestic factories in Japan to ensure employee safety, Kyodo news agency reported.
Three tsunami waves were recorded in Japan, the largest of 1.3 metres, officials said. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said there were no injuries or damage reported so far, and no irregularities at any nuclear plants.
Tsunami waves of between 1 to 3 metres can be fatal for people who are swept away, NHK reported. They could also cause flooding and damage wooden buildings, with people at risk of being killed by large drifting objects, according to the Japan Lifesaving Association.
Waves reaching more than 3 metres were possible along some coasts of Russia, the northern Hawaiian islands and Ecuador, while waves of 1-3 metres were possible in countries including Japan, Hawaii, Chile and the Solomon Islands, it said.
Smaller waves were possible along coastlines across much of the Pacific, including the US West Coast.
"Due to a massive earthquake that occurred in the Pacific Ocean, a Tsunami Warning is in effect for those living in Hawaii," US President Donald Trump said in a social media post.
"A Tsunami Watch is in effect for Alaska and the Pacific Coast of the United States."
The Philippines' seismology agency advised people to stay away from beaches in coastal areas facing the Pacific, as these regions were expected to experience tsunami waves of less than 1 metre in height.
Indonesia's geophysics agency said tsunami waves of less than 50cm could hit some parts of Indonesia. The tsunami could reach some coastal cities and towns in the Papua region, North Maluku province and Gorontalo province, the agency said in a statement.
New Zealand's disaster management agency warned coastal areas could expect "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore". In a national advisory alert, Civil Defence New Zealand said there was no immediate need to evacuate, but citizens should stay away from beaches and shore areas.
'Ring of Fire'
Several people sought medical assistance following Wednesday's quake, Oleg Melnikov, regional health minister, told Russia’s TASS state news agency.
In Severo-Kurilsk in the northern Kuril islands, south of Kamchatka, tsunami waves exceeded 3 metres, with the largest up to 5 metres, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Alexander Ovsyannikov, the town's mayor, said four tsunami waves had passed. He urged residents to assess damage to their homes and not to use gas stove heating until inspections had been carried out, in order to avoid a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Power to the Sakhalin region had been cut off due to damage to the electricity grid, RIA said, citing the regional governor.
Kamchatka and Russia's Far East sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The Russian Academy of Sciences said it was the strongest quake to hit the region since 1952.
"However, due to certain characteristics of the epicentre, the shaking intensity was not as high ... as one might expect from such a magnitude," said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Service, on Telegram.
“Aftershocks are currently ongoing ... Their intensity will remain fairly high. However, stronger tremors are not expected in the near future. The situation is under control.”
