Pacific Nations Brace as Waves Reach Japan Following Powerful 8.8 Magnitude Quake. US and Russia on High Alert, Urging Coastal Evacuations Amid Ongoing Tsunami Threat
July 30, 2025: A huge 8.7-magnitude earthquake hit the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East early Wednesday. This caused tsunami warnings and evacuations in several areas of the Pacific.
A huge 8.7-magnitude earthquake shakes Kamchatka and sets off tsunami warnings. Across the Pacific
The US Geological Survey (USGS) first said the earthquake was an 8.0, but then changed their mind and said it was an 8.7, making it one of the strongest earthquakes in decades.
Sergei Lebedev, the regional emergency situations minister, said that the strong tremor caused tsunami waves to reach up to 4 meters (about 13 feet) in some sections of Kamchatka. He made an urgent call for people to leave and stay away from the coast because the risk of more waves was still high. There were additional reports of damage to some buildings near the epicenter.
The earthquake caused a chain reaction of tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean. The US government warned those living along the coast of Alaska, while Hawaii was put on a low-level tsunami watch. In Honolulu, sirens were sounding to get people to leave the coast.
The Japan Meteorological Agency also put out a stronger tsunami warning, saying that waves up to 3 meters high might hit the country’s Pacific coast. “Tsunamis will hit again and again. The Japanese agency warned, “Do not enter the sea or get close to the coast until the warning is lifted.” This was an update to an earlier prediction of one-meter waves.
At a depth of about 19.3 km, the quake was centered about 125 km east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a coastal city in Kamchatka. As the scenario continues to develop, emergency reaction teams and monitoring organizations are still on high alert.