A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, the strongest in the region since 1952. The quake damaged buildings, injured several people, and triggered a tsunami with waves up to 4 metres (13 ft), prompting widespread evacuations and tsunami warnings across the Pacific.
The earthquake struck at 8:24 am local time (4 am PKT) near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000, at a shallow depth of 19.3 km, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). It ranks among the 10 largest quakes ever recorded.
Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov described the event as “the strongest in decades,” urging residents to remain alert. Regional emergency officials confirmed a 3–4 metre tsunami hit parts of Kamchatka, flooding the port town of Severo-Kurilsk and damaging a fish processing plant. Authorities evacuated all residents in time, averting casualties.
Several people sustained injuries while fleeing buildings, including one individual who jumped from a window, officials said. A kindergarten and the region’s new airport terminal were among the structures damaged. Fortunately, no fatalities have been reported, and all injured are in stable condition.
The Sakhalin region’s authorities declared a state of emergency in the northern Kuril Islands. Thirty aftershocks—some as strong as magnitude 7.5—were recorded following the main tremor.
Tsunami alerts across Japan and the Pacific
Japan’s weather agency issued tsunami warnings for its eastern coast, predicting waves up to 3 metres (10 ft). Evacuations were ordered in coastal towns, and images from NHK showed residents seeking shelter on rooftops in Hokkaido. Authorities reported no damage or irregularities at nuclear plants, including the Fukushima facility.
The US Tsunami Warning System also issued alerts for multiple Pacific nations. It warned of potentially “hazardous tsunami waves” exceeding 3 metres in Russia and Ecuador, and waves of 1–3 metres in Japan, Hawaii, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Guam, Chile, and the Solomon Islands. Smaller waves could reach coastlines from Australia and New Zealand to the US West Coast.
Authorities across the region continue to monitor the situation amid fears of strong aftershocks and further disruptions to coastal communities.
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