Early on Wednesday, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 occurred off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, triggering tsunami advisories and warnings throughout the Pacific, extending from parts of the US and Canada to Japan and Hawaii.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the 21-kilometer-deep earthquake is the most powerful in Russia since 1952 and the greatest worldwide from 2011. Hawaii observed tsunami waves as high as 1.2 meters (four feet), and officials issued a warning about more effects.
Hawaii was already experiencing tsunami waves at 8:25 p.m. local time, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). California elevated a previous alert to a tsunami warning for a sparsely inhabited portion of the northern coast.
Although Hawaii Governor Josh Green said “everything has been OK so far, we haven’t seen a big wave,” he cautioned that the coastline’s diminishing sea levels might be an indication of a bigger wave in the future. “We expect two to three hours at least until we can call all clear.”
With waves ranging from 10 to 30 centimeters seen in several coastal areas, including Hokkaido and Kanagawa, Japan reported a minor impact. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan warned that “the second, third, and fourth waves of tsunami could be much bigger” and advised people in the impacted areas to leave.
Automobiles were observed escaping from coastal regions in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, while flights from Sendai Airport were halted. NHK, the public broadcaster, paused its usual programming to provide evacuation instructions in real time.
The earthquake was big enough to cause considerable amounts of water to be displaced. According to Lucy Jones, a seismologist at Caltech, “that size usually makes it to the other side of the Pacific.” “Tsunamis travel at about 500 to 600 miles per hour; the speed of a 747.”
Officials in Hawaii warned people in coastal regions to leave right now, stating that the waves are predicted to impact many coasts. A comparable underwater earthquake off the northeastern Japanese coast in 2011 caused waves as high as 40 meters, which resulted in the Fukushima nuclear accident and the deaths of nearly 20,000 people.
To prevent a recurrence, authorities around the Pacific are on high alert.
