MOSCOW/TOKYO – A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula triggered tsunami waves of up to 5m and sparked evacuation orders in Hawaii and across the Pacific on July 30.

The shallow earthquake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan’s eastern seaboard – devastated by a 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 – was ordered to evacuate.

A resident in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky said the shaking went on for several minutes.

“I decided to leave the building,” said Mr Yaroslav, 25. “It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least three minutes.”

Video footage released by the region’s health ministry showed a team of medics in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky performing surgery as the tremors shook their equipment and the floor beneath them.

Tsunami waves struck parts of Kamchatka, partially flooding the port and a fish processing plant in the town of Severo-Kurilsk and sweeping vessels from their moorings, regional officials and Russia’s Emergency Ministry said.

Verified drone footage showed the town’s entire shoreline was submerged, with taller buildings and some storage facilities surrounded by water, which was seen pouring back into the sea.

“Today’s earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors,” Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian scientists said it was the most powerful quake to hit the region since 1952.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there had been no casualties in Russia, for which he credited solid building construction and the smooth working of alert systems.

In Hawaii, waves of up to 1.7m impacted the islands before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reduced its warning level for the state around 8.50am GMT (4.50pm, Singapore time), saying no major tsunami was expected.

Coastal residents were earlier told to get to high ground or the fourth floor or above of buildings, and the US Coast Guard ordered ships out of harbours.

Flights out of Honolulu airport resumed later, the transportation department said, while the main airport in Maui remained closed with passengers sheltering in the terminal.

All Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot flights will operate normally despite the tsunami.

A spokesperson for the SIA Group said its top priority is the safety of its customers and employees. “We will continue to closely monitor the situation and adjust our flights where necessary.”

Tsunami waves of nearly half a metre were observed as far as California, with smaller ones reaching Canada’s province of British Columbia.

Warnings across the Pacific

The US Geological Survey said the quake was shallow, at a depth of 19.3km, and was centred about 119km east-south-east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000.

Tsunami alarms sounded in coastal towns across Japan’s Pacific coast, and evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of people.

Workers evacuated the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster, operator Tepco said.

Footage on public broadcaster NHK showed scores of people on the northern island of Hokkaido on the roof of a building, sheltering under tents from the beating sun, as fishing boats left harbours to avoid potential damage from the incoming waves.

Broadcaster Asahi TV reported that a 58-year-old woman died when her car fell off a cliff while she was evacuating in central Japan’s Mie prefecture.

Automaker Nissan Motor suspended operations at certain domestic factories in Japan to ensure employee safety, Kyodo news agency reported.

Three tsunami waves had been recorded in Japan, the largest of 1.3m, officials said.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said there were no injuries or damage reported so far, and no irregularities at any nuclear plants.

Tsunami waves of between 1m and 3m can be fatal for people who are swept away, public broadcaster NHK said.

They can also cause flooding and damage wooden buildings, with people at risk of being killed by large drifting objects, according to the Japan Lifesaving Association.

The US Tsunami Warning System also issued a warning of “hazardous tsunami waves” spreading across the Pacific.

Waves reaching more than 3m were possible along some coasts of Russia, the northern Hawaiian islands and Ecuador, while waves of 1m to 3m were possible in countries, including Japan, Hawaii, Chile and the Solomon Islands, it said.

Smaller waves were possible along coastlines across much of the Pacific, including the US West Coast.

“Due to a massive earthquake that occurred in the Pacific Ocean, a Tsunami Warning is in effect for those living in Hawaii,” US President Donald Trump said in a social media post.

“A Tsunami Watch is in effect for Alaska and the Pacific Coast of the United States.”

Ring of fire

Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Services said on Telegram that a kindergarten was damaged, but most buildings withstood the quake.

No serious injuries or fatalities have been reported.

Several people in Kamchatka sought medical assistance following the quake, Mr Oleg Melnikov, the regional health minister, told Russia’s Tass state news agency.

In Severo-Kurilsk in the northern Kuril Islands, south of Kamchatka, tsunami waves exceeded 3m, with the largest up to 5m, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.

Mr Alexander Ovsyannikov, the town’s mayor, said four tsunami waves had passed.

He urged residents to assess damage to their homes and not to use gas stove heating until inspections had been carried out, in order to avoid a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Power to the Sakhalin region had been cut off due to damage to the electricity grid, RIA said, citing the regional governor.

Kamchatka and Russia’s far east sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire – a geologically active region prone to major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

“However, due to certain characteristics of the epicentre, the shaking intensity was not as high... as one might expect from such a magnitude,” said Mr Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Service, on Telegram.

“Aftershocks are currently ongoing... Their intensity will remain fairly high. However, stronger tremors are not expected in the near future. The situation is under control.” REUTERS