Overview

• A magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of 19 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
• Tsunami waves flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk and reached coastal areas of Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands, with heights up to five meters recorded in Kamchatka.
• Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami alert for its entire eastern coast with waves up to three meters expected, prompting evacuations and the precautionary removal of workers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
• Local authorities report numerous injuries in Kamchatka and have evacuated residents across Russia, Japan, Guam, Alaska, Hawaii and parts of California as alerts remain in effect.
• The Russian Academy of Sciences’ geophysical service warns that aftershocks up to magnitude 7.5 could continue for a month and advises coastal residents to stay clear of shorelines.