Takia. One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck in Russia’s sparsely populated Far East on Wednesday morning. The quake triggered a tsunami of up to four metres (12 feet) in the Pacific Ocean and evacuated residents from Hawaii to Japan.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 struck on the remote Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia at 8:24 a.m. (2304 GMT Tuesday) from Petropavlovsk, the largest of the 10 recorded.

Russian officials said a tsunami had flooded the Severo-Kurilsk port city, while local media reported that a tsunami three to four metres high had been recorded in the Alizovsky district of Kamchatka.

Videos posted on Russian social media showed the city’s buildings submerged in seawater. Officials said about 2,000 residents had been evacuated.

Several people were injured in Russia, but none of them were in serious condition, state media reported.

“The walls were shaking,” a resident of Elizovsky told state media Zvezda, “the good thing is that we had prepared a suitcase, a suitcase with water and clothes near the door. We picked it up immediately and ran out.. It was very scary. ’

Authorities in the Pacific coastal countries of North and South America, including the United States, Mexico and Ecuador, have warned to stay away from the affected beaches.

In Japan, people are evacuated by car or on foot to high ground. The first wave measuring 30 centimeters was observed in Hokkaido. As of noon (0300 GMT), no injuries or damage were reported in Japan.

In Hawaii, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi told residents and thousands of visitors to stay safe on the top floors of buildings or in higher places.

“People shouldn’t stay on the beach, and I’ll say it once again, no, as we’ve seen in the past, don’t risk their lives to see what a tsunami looks like,” Governor Josh Greene said. If you get hit by a tsunami, it will actually kill you. ’

Pacific warnings

Wednesday’s quake was the strongest in the Kamchatka region since 1952. The Regional Earthquake Monitoring Service has warned of a 7.5-magnitude aftershock.

According to the USGS, the epicentre of the earthquake is almost the same area as the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake of the same year. That year’s earthquake caused a Pacific-wide tsunami.

At least six aftershocks have further shaken the region. One of magnitude 6.9 is listed and the other is listed at 6.3. U.S. tsunami warning centers said waves above three metres above tidal levels could hit Ecuador, the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and some coasts in Russia.

Waves of one to three meters are expected to hit some coasts of Chile, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Japan and other islands and islands in the Pacific Ocean. Australia, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Tonga and Taiwan, among others, are likely to experience a wave of up to one metre.

It described potential situations as ‘dangerous’. A security perimeter was established in Inez beach in Japan’s Chiba prefecture, and a rescue worker said the beach was restricted until further notice.

“I didn’t expect a tsunami there, but when we heard it, I really joked about it,” said 17-year-old Lina Lucier, a Canadian tourist.

“We had come here hoping to swim, but when we heard a tsunami warning, we couldn’t go inside, we couldn’t even get close to the water,” said Tomoyo Fujita, 35, as she left the area with her daughter.

Television footage showed several whales swept away on the beach. Workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant in northeastern Japan, which was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, have been moved to safety, its operator said.

Aftershocks

According to local AFP journalists, tsunami alerts were sent to mobile phones in California. Us President Donald Trump said on social media, “Stay strong and stay safe!”

A tsunami siren sounded near Hawaii’s popular Waikiki Surf beach. There, an AFP photographer observed traffic jams as Hawaiians fled to the highlands.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning Centers issued its highest level of alert tsunami warning for the entire U.S. state of Hawaii. The first waves are expected to arrive at 7:17 pm local time (0517 GMT).

“People have been advised to stay away from beaches and avoid coasts,” the seismological centre warned.

Ships were ordered to go into open waters before the expected arrival of waves up to two meters, while Honolulu government employees were sent home soon.