An 8.8-magnitude earthquake that experts said could be the sixth largest on record struck in the North Pacific off Russia early Wednesday, prompting tsunami warnings and evacuations in Hawaii, Alaska, California and Japan and leaving millions anxiously awaiting waves that forecasters said could approach 10 feet in places.
In Hawaii, where the first tsunami waves arrived at about 7:30 p.m. local time, mountain roads were choked with traffic as residents sought higher ground. In Japan, workers fled low-lying parts of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was wrecked by a tsunami in 2011. Footage that appeared to be from Russia, near the quake’s epicenter, showed violently shaking buildings and swamped coastal areas.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was about 78 miles east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, struck at 7:24 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The resulting waves were expected to cross vast stretches of the Pacific, triggering alerts as far away as South America.
Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii declared an emergency, urging residents to “please take this situation seriously.” The initial wave from the quake was 3 feet above sea level when it passed Midway Atoll northwest of Hawaii, Green said at a news conference.
He said the waves could drown people, threaten the electric grid, move cars, throw fences around, damage houses and dislodge trees. Homes might also lose power or water pressure, he said.
The first waves began to reach Hawaii at about 7:24 p.m., rising about a foot above the predicted tide, according to data from a water gauge at Nawiliwili on the cost of Kauai. At about 7:42, another gauge on Moku O Loe, a tiny island off Oahu north of Honolulu, also began to show the arrival of the tsunami.
Most of Hawaii’s coast was under evacuation orders. Sirens blared in downtown Honolulu, on parts of Maui and elsewhere. Text alerts warned people on the Big Island of powerful waves and strong currents. “You are in danger,” the message read. “Move to high ground or inland now.”
In parts of California, the authorities closed some beaches, docks and harbors, warning of strong and dangerous currents. Forecasters issued a warning for one region near the state line with Oregon where they said waves could reach up to 5 feet. That stretch of coastline has had frequent experiences with tsunamis over the last century. It includes Crescent City, which has been hit by 32 tsunamis since 1933.
In Alaska, the warnings were concentrated along a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific that have a population of about 8,200 people.
The Russian authorities raised tsunami warnings for two of the Kuril islands, Paramushir and Shumshu, and the Kamchatka region. Footage from Severo-Kurilsk in the Kurils showed buildings submerged in seawater. Another video from the same region appeared to show a woman screaming as objects in a home violently shook.
The facade of a kindergarten in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky collapsed after the quake, whose epicenter was off the Russian city’s coast. The building was empty when the quake struck, said Sergey Lebedev, Kamchatka’s minister for emergency situations.
Tsunamis can travel more than 500 mph in deep water, crossing an ocean in less than a day. People closer to a tsunami-generating quake have less time to prepare, but others could have hours to evacuate.
Despite their portrayals in Hollywood films, tsunamis are not tall, curling tidal waves that could be surfed. They look more like sudden floods, crashing ashore in successive waves that build up in height.
The authorities in Japan said waves along the country’s Pacific coast could reach 3 meters, or 10 feet. A ferry linking the main Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido was suspended, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported. In Chile, where the U.S. Tsunami Warning System warned that waves could be nearly 10 feet high.