Russian earthquake triggers Japan, US, Hawaii, Philippines, Indonesia warnings after 8.8 magnitude tremor in nation’s Kamchatka region

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s eastern Kamchatka Peninsula at 9.25am AEST.

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The U.S. The Geological Survey said it was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km. It revised the magnitude up from an earlier 8.0 and reported a strong aftershock of magnitude 6.9 soon after.

A tsunami with a height of three to four metres was recorded in parts of Kamchatka, an official there said. Japan said a first tsunami wave of about 30 centimetres had reached Nemuro on the eastern coast of Hokkaido.

Evacuations, tsunami warnings and watches were issued across the Pacific including in Russia, Japan, the US west coast and Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines and Indonesia.

It’s the strongest earthquake in the area since 1952, when a 9.0 quake in Kamchatka caused damage and triggered 9.1-metre waves in Hawaii, but there were no reported deaths.