A magnitude 8.8 earthquake has struck the Russian Far East’s Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering a four-meter tsunami and prompting evacuations, Reuters reported.
The shallow quake in the remote Russian region damaged buildings and injured several people, while evacuations were ordered for much of Japan’s eastern coast. Japan was hit hard by a 9-magnitude earthquake and a massive tsunami in 2011.
In Hawaii, coastal residents were urged to move inland or stay on the fourth floor or higher. The US Coast Guard ordered ships to leave ports.
Waves up to four meters high hit parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula, partially flooding a port and a fish processing plant in Severo Kurilsk. Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov told Telegram that the quake was severe and the strongest in decades. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said a kindergarten building was damaged, but most buildings withstood the quake. No serious injuries were reported.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was shallow – 19.3 kilometres deep – and
its epicentre was 119 kilometres east-southeast of the Kamchatka city of Petropavlovsk.
A resident of Petropavlovsk said the quake started slowly but grew in strength and lasted for several minutes, and that he had decided to leave the building he was in because of its strength and duration.
Tsunami warnings were sounded along Japan’s Pacific coast on the morning of the 30th of July, with tens of thousands of residents ordered to evacuate. Workers have also left the devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant. Carmaker Nissan Motor has temporarily suspended work at several plants to protect workers from potential danger. As of 2 p.m. local time on the 30th of July, three tsunami waves up to 60 centimeters high had been recorded in Japan, and so far there have been no reports of casualties or disruptions at any of the nuclear power plants.
The US Tsunami Warning System has warned of dangerous waves moving across the Pacific Ocean.
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