On Wednesday, a strong magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia caused tsunami waves up to 5 meters (16 feet) in height in the immediate area and prompted evacuation orders as far away as Hawaii and throughout the Pacific.
While majority of Japan’s eastern seaboard, which was devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011, was urged to evacuate, the shallow earthquake in the isolated Russian region damaged structures and injured a number of people.
According to a Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky resident, the shaking continued for a few 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.”
In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a group of medical professionals were performing surgery while the tremors rocked their tools and the floor below them, according to video footage made public by the region’s health ministry.
A powerful earthquake struck near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering tsunami waves that flooded parts of Severo-Kurilsk, damaging a fish facility and sweeping boats away. The quake, the region’s strongest since 1952, prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific. Waves hit Hawaii, California, and British Columbia, with Japan evacuating thousands. In Japan, waves up to 1.3 meters caused one death and factory shutdowns, though no major damage was reported. Russia’s emergency ministry confirmed no fatalities, but some injuries occurred. The quake, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, had a shallow depth and caused aftershocks. Kamchatka’s governor called it the strongest in decades.
