A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s far eastern coast at around 02:00 UK time July 30th, triggering tsunami warnings across parts of Russia, Japan and United States.
The epicentre of the quake was off the eastern coast of the Kamchatka peninsula.
Tsunami waves as high as 3-4 metres have been reported in Kamchatka, while 30cm waves have hit a city in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
At least three tsunami waves hit parts of the Russian port town Severo-Kurilsk, in the country’s Sakhalin region and at the south-end of the Kamchatka peninsula. The town has a population of around 2,000 people. The last of the three tsunami waves damaged port infrastructure and pulled several moored ships out into the straits.
Russia’s state news agency TASS said that the third wave was “powerful”.
Russia’s Sakhalin region has declared a state of emergency in the northern Kuril Islands, a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East, and part of a series of islands that link the southern point of the Kamchatka peninsula with the northern Japanese province of Hokkaido.
Helen Janiszewski, Assistant Professor, Geophysics and Tectonics Division at the University of Hawaii said that today’s earthquake ranked among the 10 most severe in recorded history. According to the US Geological Survey, external, at magnitude 8.8 it is tied at the sixth most severe quake in history, with the 2010 earthquake in Biobío, Chile, and the 1906 earthquake in Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
In Japan, the first tsunami waves have been observed, with height of up to 40cm on the coast of Hokkaido, the northern Japanese island prefecture next to Russia.
Japan’s evacuation warnings now span hundreds of kilometres along a wide swathe of its Pacific coast – from Hokkaido in the north to Wakayama prefecture in the south. The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a statement saying that major tsunamis could be expected for more than a day after the earthquake in Russia. The meteorological agency had warned that tsunami waves could reach up to 3 metres high.
In the US, officials in Hawaii and California are warning the public to stay away from beaches and low-lying areas. California experts are saying that the state is unlikely to see catastrophic casualties in the Americas, while the Hawaii governor asks the public to stay calm.
Tsunamis generally hit over a period of hours, so the full extent of any damage may not be known until the early hours of Wednesday, local time. Seismologist Dr Lucy Jones says the tsunami could damage harbours and waterfront property in Hawaii – and possibly in California – but it is not expected to cause a catastrophic loss of life anywhere in the Americas.
Tsunami waves in Hawaii are predicted to be 3-to-10 feet, while in Santa Barbara, the wave height is predicted to be 1-2 feet. For comparison, in Japan in 2011 some wave heights were 42 feet, Jones said. “It’s not a wave,” she said. “That’s how much the sea level rises temporarily.”
Crescent City in northern California is expected to get 6-foot waves in its harbour, she added.
The Western Aleutians in Alaska, which are closest to where the two tectonic plates join, were under tsunami warnings and then an advisory, but the rest of the coast of Alaska – which is further to the north of the plate – has been stood down from warnings.
Further to the south, the Philippines and Indonesia also issued tsunami advisories, but they were expecting smaller waves than other areas. Nevertheless, they urged residents to avoid shorelines.
The Philippine volcanology and seismology agency released a tsunami advisory on Wednesday. It said tsunami waves of less than one metre are expected to arrive on Wednesday early afternoon (Manila time). Residents in more than 20 provinces have been cautioned against going near beaches and coastal areas.
The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency issued a tsunami early warning for parts of eastern Indonesia. The warning covers coastal areas in North Sulawesi, North Maluku, West Papua, and Gorontalo. Authorities have urged residents to remain calm and avoid the shoreline. As of Wednesday morning, no evacuation orders had been issued.