Tsunami warning sirens blared in Honolulu as the Honolulu emergency department called for the evacuation of some coastal areas after a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula.
“Take Action! Destructive tsunami waves expected,” the Honolulu department of emergency management said in a social media post.
The massive quake struck on Wednesday, generating a tsunami of up to 4 metres (13 ft), damaging buildings and prompting evacuation warnings in the area and across most of Japan’s east coast, officials said. It was originally listed as a magnitude 8.7 but was later re-evaluated by USGS to 8.8.
The US tsunami warning system issued a warning of “hazardous tsunami waves” within the next three hours, and a watch was also in effect for the US island territory of Guam and other islands of Micronesia.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of 1 to 3 meters above tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan and the Solomon Islands. Waves of more than 3 meters were possible along some coastal areas of Russia and Ecuador.
An up-to-date map of tsunami warnings, advisories, and watches can be found on a map at the US tsunami warning system’s website. As of this 7pm PT, the entire western seaboard of the United States and British Columbia is under a “tsunami advisory”, which instructs residents to “stay out of the water and away from beaches and waterways”, and to watch for instructions from local authorities.
The San Francisco department of emergency management issued a warning and said it was working with public safety agencies to determine whether evacuation of coastal areas would be necessary.
In Huntington Beach, California, lifeguards and police were asking people to leave the beaches, which would remain closed while the tsunami warning was in effect. No evacuation warnings were in effect, the fire department posted.