Tsunami alert from America to Japan after 8.7 magnitude earthquake hits in Russia

The undersea earthquake was located about 250 kilometers from Japan’s northernmost main island, Hokkaido. Although the tremors were felt mildly in Japan, the agency issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific coastline, warning of waves up to 1 meter (3.3 feet) high.

Moscow: The earth shook violently after a powerful 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday. The earthquake was so strong that it affected two other countries, after which Japan and the US Tsunami Warning Center have issued a tsunami warning. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a tsunami warning has been issued for Hawaii, Japan and Australia on Tuesday after the 8.7 magnitude earthquake, as well as a tsunami warning for the Far East coast of Russia.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the undersea earthquake was located about 250 kilometers from Japan's northernmost main island, Hokkaido. Although the tremors were felt mildly in Japan, the agency issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific coastline, warning of waves up to 1 meter (3.3 feet) high.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was shallow, with a depth of just 19.3 km (12 miles). Its epicentre was found about 125 km (80 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000 on the shores of Avacha Bay. The USGS raised the magnitude to 8.7 from a previous estimate of 8.0.

Japan's Meteorological Agency raised its tsunami warning on Wednesday after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, saying waves up to three metres (9.8 feet) high were expected.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said waves were expected to hit Japan's Pacific coast between 10:00 am and 11:30 am (01:00-02:30 GMT).

No casualties reported, but structural damage confirmed

Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov described the quake as "severe and the most powerful in decades" in a video posted on Telegram. "According to preliminary information, there were no casualties, but a kindergarten was damaged," he added.

An evacuation order has been issued for the city of Severo-Kurilsk, located in the south of the Kamchatka Peninsula, due to the threat of a tsunami, according to Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko.

Russian authorities expect low to moderate tsunami waves
The Kamchatka branch of Russia's Emergency Services Ministry said tsunami waves up to 32 centimeters (1 foot) high could hit the coast. The Japan Meteorological Agency said waves would start reaching major coastal areas from around 0100 GMT.

Shin'ichi Sakai, a seismologist at the University of Tokyo, told NHK that a shallow earthquake off the coast, even if far away, could trigger large tsunami waves in Japan.

"Today's earthquake was severe and the most powerful one in decades," Solodov said, stressing the severity of the event in the geologically active region.

Kamchatka and Japan lie on the Pacific Ring of Fire

Japan and the Russian Far East both lie within the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most tectonically active regions on Earth, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent. Earlier this July, the region was hit by five major earthquakes, the largest of which was a magnitude 7.4 quake that struck Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 144 km (89 miles) off the coast.