On Wednesday an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 hit the Peninsula of the Far East of Kamchatka of Russia, the strongest in the region since 1952, damaging buildings and generating a tsunami of up to 4 meters (13 feet) that caused warnings and evacuations that extend throughout the Pacific Ocean.
Several people were injured in the remote Russian region, while much of the east coast of Japan, devastated by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011, received the order to evacuate.
“Today’s earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors,” said Kamchatka governor Vladimir Solodov, in a video published in the telegram messaging application.
A tsunami was recorded with a height of 3-4 meters (10-13 feet) in parts of Kamchatka, said Sergei Lebedev, regional minister of emergency situations, urging people to move away from the coast.
The Russian authorities said that a Tsunami hit and flooded the port city of Severo-Kurilsk, while the local media said that a wave of between three and four meters high in the district of Elizovsky in Kamchatka was recorded.
The earthquake of magnitude 8.8 hit at 8:24 am (4 am pkt) of Petropavlovsk in the remote Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia and was one of the 10 largest registered, according to the United States Geological Service.
The USGS said the earthquake was superficial at a depth of 19.3 km, and was centered at 119 km to the east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a 165,000 city.
The Epicenter of the earthquake is approximately the same as the huge tremor of 9.0 that year, which resulted in a destructive tsunami throughout the Pacific, according to the USGS.
“The strongest earthquake since 1952 has just occurred in the seismic zone of Kamchatka … Given the scale of the event, the strong replicas should be expected with a magnitude of up to 7.5,” said Kamchatka’s geophysical service on Telegram.
Thirty additional tremors were recorded after the main earthquake of the Kamchatka Peninsula, said a regional branch of the Geophysical Service of the Academy of Sciences of Russia.
Several people sought medical assistance after the earthquake, Oleg melnikov, regional health minister, told Russia Tassel State news agency.
“Unfortunately, there are some people injured during the seismic event. Some were injured while running outside, and a patient jumped through a window. A woman was also injured within the new airport terminal,” Melnikov said.
“All patients are currently in satisfactory conditions, and so far serious injuries have been reported.”
While a kindergarten was also damaged, most buildings resisted the earthquake, and no deaths had been reported, the ministry added.
Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Services said on Telegram that the port in the city of Sakhalin in Severo-Kurilsk and a fish processing plant were partially flooded by a Tsunami. The population has been evacuated.
“Everyone was evacuated. There was enough time, a whole hour. So all were evacuated, all people are in the Tsunami security zone,” said the Kuril Kuril Alexander Ovsyannikov Islands district in a crisis meeting with officials.
The authorities in the Far East Region of Sakhalin de Russia declared an emergency state in the islands of northern Kuril.
“A state of emergency has been declared in the Northern District of Kuril, where an earthquake and tsunami today occurred today,” said Sakhalin’s government in a statement.
Tsunami alert issued in Japan
The Japan’s weather agency improved its warning, saying that it expected Tsunami waves up to 3 meters (10 feet) to reach large coastal areas that begin around the 1 am GMT (6 am PKT).
Tsunami’s alarms sounded in the coastal cities of the Pacific coast of Japan, with the authorities that urged people to look for higher ground.
Footage in the public broadcaster NHK He showed dozens of people on the northern island of Hokkaido on the roof of a building, refugeing under the tents of the beat sun, since fishing boats left ports to avoid potential damage to incoming waves.
“We arrived here with the hope of swimming, but once we listened to a warning of Tsunami, we had not emitted, we did not enter at all, not even close to the water,” said the local Tomoyo Fujita, 35, said AFP When he left the area with his little daughter.
The television images showed several whales washed on a beach.
The workers evacuated the comfortable nuclear plant of Fukushima, where a crisis after the Tsunami 2011 caused a radioactive disaster, said Operator Tepco.
Until now, there were no injuries or damage, and there are no irregularities in any nuclear plant, said the chief secretary of the Japan Cabinet, Yoshimasa Hayashi.
Warnings throughout the Pacific
The US TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM. UU. It also issued a warning of “dangerous tsunami waves” in the next three hours.
The waves that reached more than 3 meters were possible along some coasts of Russia and Ecuador, while the waves of 1-3 meters were possible in Japan, Hawaii, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Guam, Chile and the Solomon Islands, he said. The smallest waves were possible along the coasts in much of the Pacific, including the west coast of the United States.
The waves of up to one meter were possible in other places, including Australia, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Tonga and Taiwan.
He described the potential conditions as “dangerous.”
“Due to a massive earthquake that happened in the Pacific Ocean, a Tsunami warning is in force for those who live in Hawaii,” said the president of the United States, Donald Trump, in a publication on social networks.
“A tsunami clock is in force for Alaska and the Pacific coast of the United States. Japan is also on the road. Visit tsunami.gov/ to get the latest information. Keep strong and keep safe!”
Tsunami alerts were pushed to mobile phones in California, according to the premises AFP Reporters
Hawaii ordered evacuations from some coastal areas. “Take measures! Destructive waves of Tsunami were expected,” said the Honolulu Emergency Management Department in X.
Hawaii’s warning urged residents of low areas to move to a higher land or the fourth floor of a building.
The US Tsunami warning centers issued a Tsunami warning, its highest level alert, for the entire Hawaii American state, with the first waves expected at 7:17 pm local time (10:17 PM PKT).
“It is also advised to remain away from the beach and do not go to the coast,” said the Seismology Center in a warning.
In Mexico, the Navy warned that strong currents are expected at the port entrances from Baja California in the northwest to Chiapas in southern Mexico, AFP reported.
The country has mobilized the authorities at all levels of government to keep its population away from the Pacific beaches.
Following his example, Peru also issued a warning statement of a possible tsunami.
“After an analysis and evaluation of the National Warning Center of Tsunami, it has been determined that this event generates a Tsunami warning for the Peruvian coast,” said the direction of hydrography and navigation of the Peruvian Navy in a statement, adding that the situation “will remain under constant surveillance.”
Ecuador’s officials ordered ‘preventive evacuations’ of Galapagos beaches and the suspension of all maritime activities, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, the China Tsunami warning center said it was expected that waves between 30 centimeters and one meter would reach parts of the east coast.
“According to the latest warning and analysis results, the Tsunami Advice Center of the Ministry of National Resources has determined that the earthquake has triggered a Tsunami, which is expected to cause damage to certain coastal areas of China,” said the advisory center.
‘Fire Ring’
Kamchatka and the Far East of Russia sit in the Pacific Fire Ring, a geologically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The Russian Academy of Sciences said it was the strongest earthquake to reach the region since 1952.
“However, due to certain characteristics of the epicenter, the intensity of agitation was not as high … as one would expect from such magnitude,” said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service, in Telegram.
“Replicas are currently in progress … their intensity will remain quite high. However, stronger tremors are not expected in the near future. The situation is under control.”
