<Magnitude 8.7 Earthquake Sets Off Tsunami Alerts Across The Pacific; Tsunami Warning Issued For Hawaii, Alaska The massive quake shook eastern Russia and far western Alaska. Here's the latest.
By Jonathan Belles
A major magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck early Wednesday in far eastern Russia. Tsunami alerts have been issued in parts of Alaska, Hawaii, Japan and throughout the Pacific.
The National Tsunami Warning Center, based in Alaska, issued a tsunami warning for western parts of the Alaska Aleutian Islands and Hawaii, and a watch for portions of the West Coast, including California, Oregon, and Washington.
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Hawaiian residents in Maui were seen evacuating away from the water.
The advisory also includes a vast swath of Alaska’s coastline, including parts of the panhandle.
A damaging tsunami wave could reach:
- The western portions of Alaska's Aleutian Islands by 4:40 p.m. Alaskan Standard Time.
- Hawaii by 7:17 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time.
- For other US and Canadian arrival times, click here.
International Impacts
The quake struck far eastern Russia near the Kamchatka Peninsula city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 181,000 people.
Russia's Tass news agency reported from the biggest city near the epicenter, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, that many people ran out into the street without shoes or outerwear. Cabinets toppled inside homes, mirrors were broken, cars swayed in the street and balconies on buildings shook noticeably.
Tass also reported power outages and mobile phone service failures in the capital of the Kamchatka region.
Tsunami waves have been seen on the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Japan’s meteorological agency issued a tsunami alert for Japan’s Pacific coast, saying waves up to 10 feet could arrive along the northern Japanese coasts less than half an hour after the alert.
Potential Damage And Perspective
The USGS estimates that damages could be in the billions of dollars and issued a rare red pager to flag the earthquake's destructive potential.
This quake could be one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded.
The area of the northwestern Pacific is no stranger to tectonic activity. The Kamchatka Peninsula sits on the boundary between the Pacific tectonic plate and the North American Plate. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck nearby in 1952 and a magnitude 8.4 quake struck the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in 1923.
This is a developing situation. The Associated Press contributed to this report.>
https://weather.com/news/news/2025-07-29-major-earthquake-tsunami-warning-advisory-alaska-hawaii-russia |
