A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Russia’s Far East early Wednesday morning, prompting widespread tsunami warnings across the Pacific region, including Russia, Japan, Hawaii, and the US West Coast.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the quake occurred at a shallow depth of 20.7 km, making it especially dangerous and likely to be followed by strong aftershocks — including two subsequent quakes measuring 6.9 and 6.3 on the Richter Scale.
Tsunami waves reaching up to 3 to 4 meters were reported in parts of Kamchatka, said regional emergency minister Sergei Lebedev. A tsunami struck the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, home to about 2,000 residents, forcing emergency evacuations, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry confirmed.
Evacuations and tsunami watches were also issued for Japan, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands, with emergency agencies on high alert.
The USGS noted that the quake occurred due to shallow reverse faulting along the Kuril-Kamchatka Arc, a highly active seismic zone where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the North American Plate at a rate of around 77 mm per year.
While earthquakes are usually marked as points on a map, an event of this magnitude is better described as rupturing a large area — estimated at 390 km by 140 km. The region has a history of seismic activity, including 31 quakes of magnitude 6.5 or greater within 250 km of Wednesday’s epicenter in the last century.
This latest quake follows a magnitude 7.4 foreshock recorded on July 20, and occurred just 45 km southeast of the 1952 M9.0 Kamchatka quake, which had caused a destructive tsunami across the Pacific.
Authorities across the region continue to monitor the situation as aftershocks are expected and tsunami watches remain in effect.