On July 30, 2025, a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, ranking it among the six strongest earthquakes ever recorded. The quake, centered 119 kilometers east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a shallow depth of 19.3 kilometers, triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific. Over 2 million people were ordered to evacuate in Japan, Hawaii, and parts of the U.S. West Coast, including California, Oregon, and Washington. Tsunami waves began hitting affected areas within hours, with a 3.6-foot wave recorded in Crescent City, California, and a 5.7-foot wave reaching Maui, Hawaii. In Russia’s Severo-Kurilsk, waves exceeded 13 feet, flooding the port and a fish processing facility, though no major injuries or deaths were reported. Japan’s Hokkaido and Honshu saw waves over 1 meter high, prompting evacuations, while Hawaii’s tsunami warning was downgraded to an advisory after initial fears of 10-foot waves subsided. The U.S. National Weather Service noted waves up to 1.4 feet in Oregon and 1.3 feet in Washington, with advisories remaining in effect for parts of California. Russia’s Klyuchevskoy Volcano erupted following the quake, with lava flowing down its western slope, adding to the region’s seismic activity. Aftershocks, including a 6.9 magnitude event, followed, and while most tsunami alerts were later downgraded, authorities in French Polynesia warned of potential 2.5-meter waves. The quake occurred along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active zone, and no significant structural damage or casualties were reported across the affected regions despite the widespread alerts.
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