A powerful 8.8-magnitude undersea earthquake off Russia's eastern coast triggered tsunami waves across the Pacific Wednesday morning.

The first tsunami waves hit Hawaii late Tuesday. In the early hours of Wednesday, tsunami waves were recorded on California's northern coast followed by San Francisco.

Tsunami warnings remain active for Alaska, Hawaii, and coastal regions stretching as far south as New Zealand.

A major new tsunami warning has been issued for the Marquesas Islands archipelago in French Polynesia.

Authorities warned that waves of up to 4 meters (13 feet) could hit the islands later today.

French Polynesia comprises more than 100 sparsely populated islands and atolls scattered over an expanse roughly the size of Western Europe.

New Zealand's emergency management agency issued a nationwide coastal alert Wednesday, warning of "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges" expected to affect all shorelines later in the evening. While no evacuations were ordered, the government advised residents to immediately leave beaches, harbors, marinas, and estuaries, and to stay out of the water.

The alert, sent directly to mobile phones across the country, follows the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula that triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific. Officials emphasized the potential for hazardous conditions despite the absence of large, visible waves, urging the public to remain cautious until the threat has passed.

Russia's RT broadcaster posted a clip from a video system in the operating theater of a Kamchatka hospital as four medical personnel were performing surgery as the 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck.

Medical equipment and the patient lying on the operating table shook violently as the medical staff reached out to hold things steady, leaning over the patient to try to stop the rocking. The shaking went on for at least 20 seconds.

"Doctors in Kamchatka kept calm during the powerful quake — and never stopped the surgery," RT said in a post on X.

"They stayed with the patient until the end," RT said, adding: "The patient is doing well, according to the Health Ministry."

A 3.6ft wave surge has been recorded by the National Tsunami Warning Center at Crescent City near the California-Oregon border:

Governments across the South Pacific issued urgent warnings Wednesday, advising residents to steer clear of coastlines amid heightened tsunami fears following a powerful offshore earthquake near Russia.

While no formal evacuations were ordered, officials in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Solomon Islands called on communities to review evacuation routes and remain alert for further instructions.

Many of these small, low-lying island nations are acutely vulnerable to tsunami surges and rising sea levels, placing them at the forefront of global coastal risk. Authorities emphasized that beaches and waterfront areas should be avoided until the threat of wave activity fully subsides. The regional caution underscores the persistent danger tsunamis pose to some of the world's most exposed and climate-fragile populations.

Data from the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic showed fleets of Japanese fishing boats evacuating the port of Kushiro in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.

The boats evacuated the port, which is about 990 miles from the epicenter, in search of deeper waters in the Northern Pacific amid tsunami warnings issued by the Japanese government.

Tokyo says its military has been put on standby to assist in evacuations and possible disaster relief following the earthquake off the nearby Kamchatka Peninsula.

After Japan's mega quake in 2011—measuring 9.1—giant tsunami waves nearly 130 feet high swept fishing boats and other debris inland, causing the loss of life and livelihoods. In an updated advisory issued on Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said the temblor could see waves as high as 10 feet to reach the shores of Hokkaido in the north and Tokyo Bay in the south.

Residents in high-risk areas have been cautioned to resist the urge to observe incoming tsunami waves from the coast.

The NAtional Weather Service in Los Angeles has recorded a "rapid and damaging surge, going from low to high tide in just a few minutes."

The warning states the danger could persist for the next 24 hours, and warns people to stay away from inundated areas.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has downgraded the earlier tsunami alert to an "advisory".

"Pacific Tsunami Warning Center REDUCED the alert level for Hawaii to a TSUNAMI ADVISORY," the Hawaii County Civil Defence Agency said on X.

"Unusually strong currents and waves still possible close to the shore and in harbors. Officials are assessing damage but have NOT reopened coastal evacuation areas. Stay clear of these areas."

People in Chocó and Nariño on the east coast of Colombia have been ordered to evacuate coastal areas and move inland, to higher ground.

It is currently 4.15 a.m. in Colombia.

As darkness fell over the Hawaiian islands, a news channel reported coastal flooding at Kahului on Maui island. Some parking lots were flooded at Haleiwa on Oahu island and at Maunalua Bay, near Honolulu, a parking lot was also flooded.

At Haleiwa, a reporter said a harbor-side parking area was flooded by "ankle-deep" seawater but it drained away quickly.

There was "significant flooding" at Hilo, on Hawaii island, a news channel reported. It gave no details and there were no reports of damage.

Some web cams set up at beaches in the island chain did show water receding at around dusk, leading to fears that big waves would soon follow, but the waves that came back up the shore were not as destructive as anticipated.

Police officers ask people to evacuate an empty beach due to a tsunami warning in Fujisawa city, Kanagawa prefecture on July 30, 2025. Tsunamis hit parts of Russia's Far East and Japan on July 30 after a huge magnitude 8.8 earthquake, with warnings in place around the Pacific of waves of over three metres (10 feet) in places. YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP via Getty Images

The first tsunami waves have been recorded in San Francisco:

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said officials observed water receding by 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) at Haleiwa Harbor on Oahu.

The receding waves left boats to lay on dry rock and sand. "That gave us pause," Green said.

Large traffic jams were reported across Hawaii as people fled coastal areas.

A traffic jam forms in Honolulu Tuesday, July 29, 2025 as people heed a tsunami evacuation warning that coincided with rush hour following a powerful earthquakes in Russia's Far East early Wednesday. AP Photo

Oprah Winfrey has responded after viral social media posts claimed she kept her private road closed off despite tsunami warnings in Hawaii, with other roads gridlocked with people fleeing the coast to reach higher ground.

In a statement shared with Newsweek, a spokesperson for Winfrey said: "As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened. Any reports otherwise are false."

Chip McCreery of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center gave an update on the Hawaii tsunami waves.

He said the biggest waves were recorded in Kahului at 11 feet from crest to trough

"We want this to go down to everything less than a three-foot amplitude, or six feet crest to trough, and most gauges are below that."

"We will be monitoring again over the next hour hopefully then the decision can be made to drop our alert level down to advisory."

Cancellation of the advisory would probably come some time on Wednesday morning, he said.

Tsunami waves have reached California, the National Weather Service has recorded.

The first area affected is Arena Cove, Mendocino County.

"Waves will continue to build in through the night and will become more dangerous as we approach high tide," the service posted on X, adding: "Stay away from beaches!"

An extreme tsunami warning has been issued for California's Northern Humboldt Coast. The NWS warning stated: "If you are located in this coastal area, move inland to higher ground.

"Tsunami warnings mean that a tsunami with significant inundation is possible or is already occurring. Tsunamis are a series of waves dangerous many hours after initial arrival time. The first wave may not be the largest."

Workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant were evacuated Wednesday after the earthquake off Russia.

"We have evacuated all workers and employees," a spokeswoman for the plant operator said, while adding that "no abnormality" had been observed at the site.

The operator said it was halting the discharge of water into the sea from the stricken plant.

"To ensure absolute safety, we suspended the discharge of...treated water at 9:05 a.m. on July 30, 2025 in accordance with the issuance of a tsunami advisory," the company said.

Units five and six of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station are seen through a bus window in Okuma on November 12, 2011. Japan took a group of journalists inside the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for the first time, stepping up its efforts to prove to the world it is on top of the disaster. DAVID GUTTENFELDER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

"We have confirmed that all personnel at Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Stations have evacuated to higher ground, and no injuries have been reported at this time."

"We have also confirmed that there are no abnormalities in plant parameters or equipment at both plants. We will continue to closely monitor tsunami information and any impacts to the plants."

In 2011, around 18,000 people were killed in Japan when a magnitude 9 quake off its east coast triggered a tsunami that battered coastal communities on the main island of Honshu.

Tsunami waves swamped back-up power and cooling systems at Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo, eventually causing meltdowns at three of six reactors, and the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

About 160,000 people were forced to flee from their homes.

Several whales have been seen washed ashore in Japan by tsunami waves, following a massive earthquake off the eastern coast of Russia.

A video shared on the social media platform X shows four whales beached on what was reported as Hirasuna Beach in Chiba, on Wednesday.

Russian authorities have declared a state of emergency on the Kuril Islands after a series of tsunami waves inundated the region in the wake of the massive offshore earthquake.

The waves, reported to have reached heights of over 3 meters (9.8 feet), flooded the fishing port of Severokurilsk—the islands' primary settlement—and knocked out power across the area. Emergency crews are working to assess damage and restore critical infrastructure.

The crisis has unfolded against the backdrop of a long-standing territorial dispute with Japan, which maintains its claim to the southernmost four islands—known in Japan as the Northern Territories. Seized by the Soviet Union at the close of World War II, the contested archipelago remains a source of deep geopolitical friction and has prevented the two nations from signing a formal peace treaty for over seven decades.

Wednesday's earthquake off Russia's far east coast is thought to have been the strongest recorded globally in over a decade.

Initially measured at magnitude 8.0, the quake was later revised upward to 8.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey, placing it among the most powerful seismic events in modern history.

It is the most significant quake since the catastrophic 9.0-magnitude earthquake off northeast Japan in March 2011, which triggered a devastating tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Seismologists note that only a handful of stronger quakes have ever been recorded, underscoring the extraordinary intensity of Wednesday's event.

Here are the top ten in history:

Biobío, Chile (1960): The most powerful earthquake in recorded history—9.5 magnitude—struck central Chile, claiming 1,600 lives and sending tsunamis across the Pacific.
Prince William Sound, Alaska (1964): A 9.2 magnitude quake, the strongest ever in the U.S., rocked southern Alaska for nearly five minutes. The disaster and resulting tsunami killed over 130 people.
Sumatra, Indonesia (2004): A catastrophic 9.1 magnitude earthquake unleashed a tsunami that swept across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa, leaving 230,000 dead in one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history.
Tohoku, Japan (2011): The 9.1 magnitude undersea quake off northeastern Japan triggered a towering tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The combined disaster killed more than 18,000 people.
Kamchatka, Russia (1952): A 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Russia's remote Far East, causing extensive damage but, remarkably, no confirmed fatalities.
Biobío, Chile (2010): Another seismic blow to Chile—this time an 8.8 magnitude quake that rocked the capital Santiago and killed around 500 people.
Esmeraldas, Ecuador (1906): An 8.8 magnitude quake and tsunami devastated Ecuador's coast, resulting in approximately 1,500 deaths.
Rat Islands, Alaska (1965): An 8.7 magnitude earthquake shook Alaska's remote western isles, generating a 35-foot-high tsunami and illustrating the persistent seismic threat to the region.
Tibet (1950): A powerful 8.6 magnitude quake ravaged the mountainous region, killing at least 780 people and setting off landslides across the Himalayas.
Sumatra, Indonesia (2012): Another powerful earthquake struck off northern Sumatra's coast with a magnitude of 8.6, reinforcing the island's position at the heart of one of the world's most volatile seismic zones.

The word tsunami comes from the Japanese words for harbor and wave. It is a fast-traveling wave usually triggered by vertical movements of the sea floor as a result of an off-shore earthquake.

Tsunami waves can travel at up to 600 miles per hour, fanning out across oceans from the epicenter of the quake.

TV monitors show news flash after a powerful earthquake in Russia's Far East prompted tsunami warnings in parts of Japan, in Osaka, western Japan Wednesday, July 30, 2025. Kai Naito/Kyodo News via AP

Tsunami waves involve movement of the entire water column from surface to sea floor. So while the height of normal waves and tsunami waves is similar in deep ocean water, near shore, tsunami waves slow and swell, reaching heights of 30 feet or more as they crash onto the coast.

About 59 percent of the world's tsunamis have occurred in the Pacific Ocean, 25 percent in the Mediterranean Sea, 12 percent in the Atlantic Ocean and 4 percent in the Indian Ocean, according to historical records.

An earthquake of more than 9 magnitude off Indonesia's Sumatra island in 2004 brought death and destruction to countries all around the Indian Ocean, including Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka and Africa's Kenya and Tanzania, killing some 230,000 people in all.

The massive undersea earthquake jolted Russia's Far East early Wednesday, sending shockwaves through the Kamchatka Peninsula and prompting urgent evacuations along the Pacific Rim.

Initially measured at magnitude 8.0 by seismologists in Japan and the U.S., the quake was later upgraded by the U.S. Geological Survey to a powerful 8.8, striking at a shallow depth of 20.7 kilometers (13 miles).

The map above locates the epicenter of an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Russia that has triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean. AP Graphic

The epicenter lay roughly 74 miles southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 180,000 on the rugged Kamchatka Peninsula.

Waves from the initial tsunami hit Severo-Kurilsk, the primary settlement on the Kuril Islands, according to regional Governor Valery Limarenko.

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, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP

Around 2,700 residents were safely evacuated to higher ground, with officials warning of possible follow-up surges. On the mainland, buildings swayed and some sustained structural damage in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

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, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences via AP

The quake was followed by multiple strong aftershocks, including one registering 6.9 in magnitude, keeping the region on edge.

Chip McCreery of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, told a news briefing:

"We want to monitor this for quite a few wave cycles to make sure the pattern is really going down, and it's not going to pop back up again."

On damage, McCreery said:

"So far we haven't seen anything too big but it's still a little bit early."

"We're not out of the woods yet but I'm quite happy that, at least on our gauges, we haven't seen numbers like 10 feet above normal sea level. The biggest ones are close to 10 feet, crest to trough."

"We've seen quite a few cycles and there haven't been any surprises. It did grow after the first wave but it hasn't grown very quickly after that. In most places, maybe we've seen the worst of it."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Tsunami Warning Center (TWC) maps show Hawaii, parts of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, and a portion of Northern California are currently under a rare tsunami warning—the highest level of alert—while the remainder of the U.S. West Coast is under a less severe tsunami advisory.

In Oregon and Washington waves were expected to begin round 11:35p.m. PT. In California, waves were expected to arrive shortly after 11:50 p.m. PT, reaching San Francisco Bay around 12:40 a.m. PT and Los Angeles Harbor by 1:00 a.m. PT.

Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska, said the impacts could be felt for many hours:

"A tsunami is not just one wave. It's a series of powerful waves over a long period of time. Tsunamis cross the ocean at hundreds of miles an hour — as fast as a jet airplane — in deep water. But when they get close to the shore, they slow down and start to pile up. And that's where that inundation problem becomes a little bit more possible there."

Hawaii Governor Josh Green has given a briefing, stating large waves have already struck the islands and they are on alert for more:

"There's multiple readings of the waves all across the Pacific and all across the islands. So there's a printout that we see dozens of those measurements and they've ranged from 0.23 meters in some cases to over a meter. So we have had a couple of waves of that size. The largest wave we believe we saw was in Haleiwa, well over a meter," he said, referring to a Hawaii beach.

"Of course, the pause that we had was also watching the shoreline recede when we saw the water pull back 20 or 30 feet. That seemed like an anticipated large wave, that's what we've all seen historically."

"We're really hoping that we are soon out of harm's way. We don't want anyone to let their guard down. We want it to go another couple of hours. As the waves cycle smaller and smaller, that's how we know that we're ending this concern."

He said Black Hawk helicopters have been activated and high-water vehicles were ready to go in case authorities need to rescue people.

A Hawaii television network broadcast pictures of a flooded beach-side parking lot at Coconut Island, in Hilo.

Tsunami sirens sounded late Tuesday night in Crescent City, a remote coastal community in Northern California, as officials warned residents to steer clear of beaches and waterways following a Pacific-wide alert.

"You are hearing a Tsunami Siren. We are under a Tsunami Warning. Please stay away from beaches and waterways. A predicted wave may hit at 11:55 pm. We are waiting on additional information about any level of evacuation," read a post from the City Hall Facebook account.

The town of 6,000, nestled near the Oregon border, is no stranger to tsunami devastation—in 1964, a deadly 21-foot wave triggered by an Alaskan earthquake killed 11 people and flattened much of its downtown. Local authorities continue to monitor the threat as new information emerges.

On Japan's eastern seaboard, nearly 2 million residents in over 220 coastal municipalities have been placed under evacuation advisories, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency has announced.

The sweeping alerts come in response to waves generated by a powerful offshore earthquake near Russia's Far East.

Authorities continue to urge coastal communities to remain on high alert.

This interactive map from Windy.com slow live wind waves tracker for the region where tsunami alerts are in place:

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