Tsunami warning LIVE updates: Strongest earthquake recorded since 2011 hits Russia’s Kamchatka region; tsunami warnings issued for Japan, US west coast, Hawaii, Philippines and Indonesia

Hawaii’s department of transportation has advised all vessels to leave the island’s port.

A tsunami warning is also in effect for the coastal areas of California, with the first wave expected to arrive around 11.50pm local time.

National Weather Service Los Angeles said multiple waves are expected, lasting between 10 and 36 hours.

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s eastern Kamchatka Peninsula at 9.25am AEST.

Loading

The U.S. The Geological Survey said it was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km. It revised the magnitude up from an earlier 8.0 and reported a strong aftershock of magnitude 6.9 soon after.

A tsunami with a height of three to four metres was recorded in parts of Kamchatka, an official there said. Japan said a first tsunami wave of about 30 centimetres had reached Nemuro on the eastern coast of Hokkaido.

Evacuations, tsunami warnings and watches were issued across the Pacific including in Russia, Japan, the US west coast and Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines and Indonesia.

It’s the strongest earthquake in the area since 1952, when a 9.0 quake in Kamchatka caused damage and triggered 9.1-metre waves in Hawaii, but there were no reported deaths.

Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Situations said on Telegram that the port in the Sakhalin town of Severo-Kurilsk, and a fish processing plant there, were partially flooded by a tsunami. The population has been evacuated.

The tsunami was recorded as reaching three-four metres in parts of the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia, regional minister for emergency situations Sergei Lebedev said.

In this image taken from a video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers inspect a kindergarten damaged by an earthquake in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia.Credit: AP

Several people were also injured by the magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula that triggered the tsunami.

“Some were hurt while running outside, and one patient jumped out of a window. A woman was also injured inside the new airport terminal,” regional health minister Oleg Melnikov told Russia’s TASS state news agency.

Reuters

Workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant have reportedly been evacuated following the tsunami warning for Japan.

The Russian earthquake appeared to be the strongest to take place anywhere in the world since the March 2011 earthquake off northeast Japan that measured 9.0 magnitude and caused a massive tsunami that set off meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Only a few stronger earthquakes have ever been measured around the world.

AP

US President Donald Trump has taken to social media advising residents in Hawaii to stay safe as a tsunami warning comes into effect for the pacific region.

“Due to a massive earthquake that occurred in the Pacific Ocean, a Tsunami Warning is in effect for those living in Hawaii,” Trump wrote.

“A Tsunami Watch is in effect for Alaska and the Pacific Coast of the United States. Japan is also in the way … STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!”

Hawaii ordered evacuations from some coastal areas. “Take Action! Destructive tsunami waves expected,” the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management said on X.

The Hawaii warning urged residents of low-lying areas to either move to higher ground or to the fourth floor of a building.

With AP

Japanese public broadcaster NHK has shown cars heading away from coastal areas in Matsushima in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan, after a tsunami alert was issued.

The station also switched from normal programming to show information about the warning and urged people to flee from the shore.

In this image taken from a video released by Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences, shows the aftermath of tsunami hitting the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk at Paramushir island of Kuril Islands, Russia.Credit: AP

Parts of Japan could get waves three metres high, according to the nation’s weather agency. That compares to heights of nearly 40 metres during the 2011 tsunami.

The US weather service also flagged threats of tsunami waves hitting the Philippines, Russia, and some Pacific islands including Yap and the Marshall Islands.

Bloomberg

The earthquake that struck Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula has been upgraded to an 8.8 magnitude, AP reports.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a first tsunami wave of about 30 centimetres reached Nemuro on the eastern coast of Hokkaido.

Vehicles evacuate to a higher ground in Kushiro, Hokkaido, northern Japan.Credit: AP

Damage and evacuations were reported in the Russian regions nearest the quake’s epicentre on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

AP

Indonesia’s geophysics agency issued a warning that tsunami waves of less than 0.5 metre could hit some parts of Indonesia on Wednesday afternoon following the quake in Russia.

The tsunami could reach some coastal cities and towns in the Papua region, North Maluku province and Gorontalo province, the agency said in a statement.

This combination of images taken from a fixed position video shows a beach immidiately after a strong earthquake near Russias Kamchatka Peninsula, above, and after people evacuated following a tsunami warning, in western Japan.Credit: AP

The US has also issued a tsunami warning for Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands with alerts for the entire US and Canadian West Coast, according to the US National Weather Service’s Tsunami Warning System. Guam is under a tsunami advisory.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK switched from normal programming to show information about the warning and urged people to flee from the shore. The broadcaster showed cars heading away from coastal areas in Matsushima in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan.

Reuters, Bloomberg