Tsunami alerts issued for U.S. and Japan after huge Pacific quake

Multiple tsunami warnings were issued in Hawaii, Alaska and Japan after a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean early Wednesday, according to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System.

The earthquake, about 78 miles east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, took place at 7:24 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, prompting the warnings, as well as advisories and watches along the entire West Coast of the United States.

On Oahu, authorities told people living along the coast to be prepared to evacuate, warning that damage could occur on every coastline. Sirens and urgent cellphone alerts blared in downtown Honolulu, on parts of Maui and elsewhere, alerting residents to the impending tsunami.

Some residents on Hawaii’s Big Island received text alerts urging them to leave coastal areas because of powerful waves and strong currents. “You are in danger,” the message read. “Move to high ground or inland now.”

In Alaska, the warnings were concentrated along a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean.

The Russian authorities raised tsunami warnings for two of the Kuril islands, Paramushir and Shumshu, and the Kamchatka region. The first small wave was estimated to have hit the Kurils around noon local time, authorities in the Sakhalin region said on Telegram.

Footage from Severo-Kurilsk in the Kuril islands appeared to show a woman screaming as objects in a living room violently shook during the quake.

Pacific Coast: The National Weather Service issued an advisory warnings for the Washington, Oregon and California coast Tuesday night. Waves were expected to hit shore at varying times across the coastal region, with the earliest expected at 11:35 p.m. in Port Orford, Oregon, and La Push, Washington. The latest wave was estimated to reach Tacoma at 2 a.m. Wednesday. The Seattle Times reported a maximum wave height of 1.4 meters.

Japan warning: Authorities in Japan on Tuesday expected the tsunami to hit the country’s Pacific coast at 10 feet high. A ferry linking the main Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido was suspended, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported.

Long reach: The impact of the quake rippled across vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean, prompting advisories as far away as Chile, where the U.S. Tsunami Warning System warned that waves could be nearly 10 feet high.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.