8.8-magnitude quake hits Russia's Kamchatka, triggers tsunami warnings across Pacific
發佈日期: 2025-07-30 19:30
TVB News
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake, tied for the sixth strongest ever recorded, hit off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East early today, sending the Pacific region on edge.
Tsunami waves pounded Russia's northern Kuril Islands as well as parts of Japan and U.S. shores.
No deaths were immediately reported.
Warnings were also in place in China, the Philippines, Indonesia and other coasts south towards New Zealand.
Wednesday's massive earthquake rattled Russia's sparsely populated Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:24 a.m. Hong Kong time.
Russian authorities said this was the strongest temblor that had hit the area since 1952.
The U.S. Geological Survey, which reported the magnitude at 8.8, said the epicentre was located 126 kilometres east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city on the coast of Avacha Bay.
Multiple aftershocks followed. Reports say coastal areas in the Elizovsky district were flooded by tsunami waves as high as 3 to 4 metres.
There were several injuries and power outages, but no substantial damage has been reported so far.
While most of the buildings withstood the tremor, the facade of a local kindergarten collapsed. An official noted there were no casualties or injuries.
In response to the disaster, a state of emergency was declared in Russia's Severo-Kurilsk District and some 2,700 people were reportedly evacuated to safety across the Kuril Islands.
The quake occurred along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active zone where most of the world's earthquakes occur.
Following the strong earthquake, the first tsunami wave to reach Japan hit Hokkaido's Nemuro City at 10:17 a.m. local time, while 1.3-metre tsunami wave was observed at Kuiji Port in Iwate Prefecture.
Waves as high as 60 centimetres were also detected as they moved south along the coast from Hokkaido to Tokyo Bay.
Residents in much of Japan's eastern seaboard were ordered to evacuate, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi warning that tides could remain high at least for a day.
Sendai Airport closed its runway this morning. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station said it has suspended the discharge of treated wastewater into the ocean and evacuated its workers.
On the other side of the Pacific, a tsunami warning was announced for the U.S. state of Alaska.
California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, as well as the U.S. territories of Guam and American Samoa are currently under a tsunami advisory.
People in Honolulu headed for higher ground.
Hawaii's governor warned that waves hitting the state could move cars and throw fences around.
Hawaii governor Josh Green said: "This is a longitudinal wave with great force driving through the shoreline and into land. That's why we ask people to evacuate very far back...The impact is at great speed. Any structure that gets loose and strikes the individual could take them out."
