Tsunami Advisory Issued for Entire West Coast

Tsunami warning sirens blared Tuesday in Honolulu and people were told to move to higher ground after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern coast. Traffic was backed up in some neighborhoods in Honolulu, and officials were preparing to open a mountain pass as an evacuation route out of Waianae, a coastal community on the island of Oahu, said state Rep. Darius Kila.

• The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami had been generated by the quake that could cause damage along the coastlines of all the Hawaiian islands, the AP reports. People in evacuation zones were urged to get to higher ground—or to at least the fourth floor of buildings. The center said the first waves were expected at 7:17pm local time, 1:17am Eastern.

• "Tsunami waves efficiently wrap around islands," the warning center said in an alert. "All shores are at risk no matter which direction they face."
• The warning center said waves of 3 to 10 feet above tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan, and the Solomon Islands. Waves of more than 10 feet were possible along some coastal areas of Russia and Ecuador.
• Evacuation orders were also issued in Japan, where authorities issued a tsunami warning for large parts of the country's eastern Pacific coast. The Japan Meteorological Agency said a first tsunami wave of about 1 foot reached Nemuro on the eastern coast of Hokkaido. Authorities warned that later waves could be higher, the BBC reports.
• A tsunami warning was issued for parts of Alaska's Aleutian Islands and a tsunami watch for the West Coast, from Alaska to Mexico, was later upgraded to a tsunami advisory. "The tsunami should arrive near 1AM tonight," the National Weather Service's Los Angeles office said in a post on X. "If you are located in the coastal area, move off the beach & out of harbors & marinas. Do not go to the coast to watch."
• Parts of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, near the epicenter, were hit by a tsunami up to 13 feet high, reports Reuters. "Today's earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors," Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said.
• The earthquake appeared to be the strongest anywhere in the world since the March 2011 earthquake off northeast Japan that was 9.0 magnitude and caused a massive tsunami that set off meltdowns at a nuclear power plant, the AP reports. Only a few stronger earthquakes have ever been measured around the world.