A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami waves of up to 5m nearby and sparked evacuation orders as far away as Hawaii and across the Pacific.
The shallow earthquake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard — devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 — was ordered to evacuate.
A resident in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky said the shaking went on for several minutes.
"I decided to leave the building," said Yaroslav, 25. "It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least three minutes."
Video footage released by the region's health ministry showed a team of medics in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky performing surgery as the tremors shook their equipment and the floor beneath them.
A 9.5-magnitude earthquake struck in a central region of Chile in 1960. Source: SBS News
Verified drone footage showed the town's entire shoreline was submerged, with taller buildings and some storage facilities surrounded by water, which was seen pouring back into the sea.
"Today's earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors," Kamchatka governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. Russian scientists said it was the most powerful to hit the region since 1952.
In Hawaii, waves of up to 1.7m impacted the islands before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reduced its warning level for the state around 6:50pm AEST, saying no major tsunami was expected.
Coastal residents were earlier told to get to high ground or the fourth floor or above of buildings, and the US Coast Guard ordered ships out of harbours.
Japan's weather agency issued a tsunami warning of waves up to 3m on its Pacific coasts. Source: AAP / AP/Eugene Hoshiko
Tsunami waves of nearly half a metre were observed as far as California, with smaller ones reaching Canada's province of British Columbia.
Warnings across the Pacific, Fukushima workers evacuated
Tsunami alarms sounded in coastal towns across Japan's Pacific coast and evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of people.
Workers evacuated the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster, operator TEPCO said.
Footage on public broadcaster NHK showed scores of people on the northern island of Hokkaido on the roof of a building, sheltering under tents from the beating sun, as fishing boats left harbours to avoid potential damage from the incoming waves.
Japan's weather agency issued a tsunami warning of waves up to 3m on its Pacific coasts following the 8.8 magnitude quake. Source: SBS News
Three tsunami waves had been recorded in Japan, the largest of 1.3m, officials said. Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said there were no injuries or damage reported so far, and no irregularities at any nuclear plants.
Tsunami waves of between 1-3m can be fatal for people who are swept away, said NHK. They can also cause flooding and damage wooden buildings, with people at risk of being killed by large drifting objects, according to the Japan Lifesaving Association.
The US Tsunami Warning System also warned of "hazardous tsunami waves" spreading across the Pacific.
The Japanese government issued evacuation orders for some areas, with residents urged to go to higher ground and stay away from the coast. Source: AAP / AP
Smaller waves were possible along coastlines across much of the Pacific, including the US West Coast.
