8.8 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes the Pacific: Tsunami Warnings Issued for Russia, Japan, and the U.S.

An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in the early hours of the day.

According to Helen Janiszewski, a professor at the University of Hawaii’s Department of Geophysics and Tectonics, this ranks among the ten strongest earthquakes ever recorded by modern instruments.

The quake, which occurred beneath the Pacific Ocean floor, triggered tsunami warnings in southern Kamchatka, Japan, and as far across the ocean as the U.S., Ecuador, and Peru.

Japan announced that waves could reach up to three meters and ordered the evacuation of approximately 900,000 people along its Pacific coastline.

The Emergency Management Agency in Honolulu, Hawaii, warned of potentially destructive waves, urging people to “immediately leave coastal and river areas and move to higher ground. Tsunami waves will come in multiple surges. Do not leave safe areas until the all-clear is given.”

In many Japanese cities, residents attempting to flee in their cars faced severe traffic congestion.

The quake struck 126 kilometers off the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of 18 kilometers.

Although the earthquake caused light damage in Russia, the resulting waves could bring major destruction to distant shores.

Sergey Lebedev, Kamchatka’s regional emergency minister, stated that there were no reported fatalities, though a kindergarten building sustained damage.

Initially measured at magnitude 8.7, the earthquake’s strength was later revised to 8.8.

This marks the strongest earthquake recorded globally since the magnitude 9.0 quake that caused the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

As a precaution, operations were halted at several nuclear plants located along Japan’s coastal cities. Some airport runways were also temporarily closed.

Japanese television stations broadcast maps indicating tsunami warning zones, expected arrival times of waves, and projected wave heights.

What Is a Tsunami?

The word "tsunami" is derived from the Japanese words tsu (harbor) and nami (wave).

A tsunami is formed when an undersea earthquake displaces the ocean floor vertically by several meters, causing massive water movement across hundreds of square kilometers.

These fast-moving waves can sweep away anything in their path.

The United Nations describes tsunamis as “walls of water” that can strike coastal areas and remain hazardous for hours.

The first wave is not always the largest:

• In the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the biggest wave was the second.

• In the 1964 Alaska tsunami, the fourth wave was the largest.

Tsunamis can be triggered by earthquakes, landslides, or volcanic eruptions.

Source: BBC News