Good afternoon. A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest ever recorded, has triggered a series of tsunami warnings and evacuation orders stretching across Japan, the US west coast and parts of the Pacific. The shallow quake hit near Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula on Wednesday, with reports of waves up to 4 metres high in the remote region.
Japan issued evacuation warnings and the country’s weather agency said the first waves measuring 30cm had reached the eastern coast of Hokkaido. In the US, tsunami waves had hit the state of Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said, warning that urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property. A tsunami warning was also issued for parts of the Alaska Aleutian Islands, and a watch for portions of the US west coast.
