After Historic Russian Quake, Here’s Where Tsunamis Have Hit

The sixth-strongest earthquake ever recorded triggered waves several feet high hurtling towards coastal areas worldwide.

Countries in and around the Pacific Ocean announced varying degrees of alerts for anticipated tsunamis.

Authorities generally advised residents in at-risk areas to seek higher ground and avoid coastlines.

At least six aftershocks were recorded following the earthquake, with the magnitude of one measuring as high as 6.9. 

While tsunami alerts and evacuation orders remained in effect in some parts of the world, the United States appears to be safe: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday that the threat of a major tsunami impacting the country has “passed completely.”

Here are the countries that have been hit so far by tsunamis since the historic quake.

Russia

In Russia, where the quake originated on Wednesday around 8:25 a.m. local time (4:25 p.m. ET, Tuesday), tsunami waves of 10-13 ft (3-4 m) hit the port town of Severo-Kurilsk in the far east coast. The town of about 2,000 people was evacuated. A tsunami threat advisory has since been lifted from the municipality.

Footage circulating online showed buildings inundated as the waves reached the coast. According to state-run news agency TASS, the mayor said three waves hit the town, with the last being the most powerful. Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram that, besides the port town, an Alaid fish processing plant was also “partially flooded.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Wednesday that there had been no casualties in Russia as a result of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. “All warning systems were activated promptly, and evacuation of people from the areas from which they needed to be evacuated was organized for the tsunami," he said at a briefing.

"In general, the earthquake resistance of the buildings proved effective. Thank God, there are no casualties, and therefore, let's say, the technological preparedness has proven itself and performed at a high level,” said Peskov.

Japan

Japan’s Meteorological Agency has downgraded all tsunami warnings in the country to advisory warnings, as of around 9 p.m. local time on Wednesday (8 a.m. ET).

Hours earlier, at 9:40 a.m. local time (8:40 p.m. ET, Tuesday), the agency issued warnings of tsunamis as high as 3 m in the country’s Pacific coast. As of 5 p.m. local time, it had observed many tsunamis along the nation’s east coast, including a wave in Kuji Port shortly before 2 p.m. (1 a.m. ET) that rose as high as 1.3 m.

Earlier, 30-cm waves struck several areas of the northern island of Hokkaido. Video shared by Reuters showed high waves reaching the island’s coastline.

There has so far been no reports of tsunami-related damages, though public broadcaster NHK reported that Tokyo authorities continue to advise people to avoid the sea. Some of the beaches in the country have also been evacuated.

JMA official Kiyomoto Masashi said, according to NHK, that a single tsunami can have a very long cycle of about one hour and tsunamis can still be observable over longer periods of time after the quake that caused them.

French Polynesia

Tsunami alerts were lifted in the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, but the islands of Tuamotu and Gambier were placed on alert around 4 p.m. Wednesday local time (10 p.m. ET). The island of Rapa Iti also remains on alert as of Wednesday evening local time.

Tsunami waves of 3 to 8 ft (1.1 to 2.5 m) had hit parts of the Marquesas Islands earlier on Wednesday, lower than a previous forecast of up to 13 ft (4 m). No injuries or major damage has been reported so far, according to the High Commission of the Republic of French Polynesia.

“A tsunami is arriving in French Polynesia,” French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X at 4:14 p.m. local time (10:14 a.m. ET) on Wednesday. “All state services are mobilized to protect our fellow citizens. I call for vigilance: follow the instructions of local authorities. All my support to the Marquesans and all our compatriots in the Pacific.”

Ecuador 

Ecuador has canceled tsunami alerts for the country’s Pacific coast as of Wednesday afternoon, although INOCAR, the Oceanographic Institute of the Navy, said some coastal areas may still experience small sea-level fluctuations.

The Galápagos Islands were earlier impacted by waves reaching as high as about 4.3 ft (1.3 m), according to INOCAR. The government had ordered “preventative” evacuations from vulnerable coastal areas of the islands to designated safe zones, canceled classes at schools in the islands, and temporarily closed visitor sites.

Tsunami alerts had been in effect for the area as of about noon local time Wednesday (2 p.m. ET), though the agency said that the waves had not caused any material damage. The elevated wave levels were expected to continue throughout the next few hours.

New Zealand

The east coast of New Zealand’s North and South Islands and Chatham Islands remain on alert and will likely continue to be overnight, according to an updated national advisory at 3:27 p.m. local time Thursday (11:27 p.m. ET, Wednesday). The west coast of South Island and Cook Strait are also on alert, although “the tsunami activity threat is at the low end of the scale,” according to the advisory.

The country’s National Emergency Management Agency earlier said that tsunami waves had reached parts of New Zealand.

The agency urged people against going in or near the water.

Peru

Peru’s national emergency center has canceled tsunami alerts for the country’s entire coast as of 9:15 p.m. local time (10:15 p.m. ET).

Tsunami waves began hitting Peru at 11:50 a.m. local time (12:50 p.m. ET) and were expected to continue until 2:11 p.m. local time (3:11 p.m. ET) with an expected wave height of 2.6 to 6.1 ft (0.8 to 1.9 m).

The agency had previously warned that waves up to 7 ft high could reach the country’s coast. In a post just before 6 a.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) the agency said that waves between 3.3 to 7.6 ft (1 to 2.3 m) were expected to reach the coastline at around 10:09 a.m local time. Officials closed 65 of Peru’s 125 Pacific ports as well as some roads near a beach in Lima, the country’s capital.

Chile

SENAPRED, Chile’s disaster prevention agency, has canceled tsunami alerts in the Antarctic territory, Easter Island, San Felix Island, and the Aysén and Magallanes regions as of Wednesday night. Several other coastal areas continued to record high sea level amplitudes as of 8:50 p.m. ET, and the agency urged people to stay away from the flood zone from the northern region of Arica and Parinacota to Los Lagos in the South which had earlier been put on “red alert.” 

The agency said on Wednesday that there have been no reports of damage on Easter Island. “We have no reports of impact, neither to people nor to the coastal edge, and we are already monitoring it, but so far, we have no reports of damage to infrastructure or people, because all the people evacuated correctly,” Alicia Cebrián, director of SENAPRED, reportedly said.

The agency had earlier upgraded tsunami warnings to the highest level along the entirety of the country’s coast bar its three most southern territories Wednesday morning, issuing a “red alert” for Easter Island in the Pacific in addition to the other coastal areas.

The alert for Easter Island came into effect at 6 a.m. local time (8 a.m. ET). The agency said that all local directories must begin their evacuation processes.

Precautionary alerts remained in place for the Aysén, Magallanes, and Chilean Antarctic Territory. Evacuations were ordered for those living in vulnerable areas along the coast. Activity in ports from Arica to San Antonio was paused, and classes on Wednesday were cancelled in some regions along the coastline due to the tsunami threat. At least five prisons in the country were evacuated.

U.S.

Alaska

Tsunami alerts have ended for all of Alaska’s coastline, as of 12:21 p.m. PT (3:21 p.m. ET).

Adak, which is part of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, recorded waves of up to 2.7 ft (0.8 m) around 11 p.m. PT on Tuesday night.

According to the National Weather Service, tsunami waves had earlier been detected in the Pacific-facing side of the Alaska peninsula. Waves less than a foot high were detected in the islands of Amchitka and Adak and were also picking up in the coastal city of Saint Paul.

California

Tsunami advisories have been canceled for much of California, although the Northern Humboldt Coast and Coastal Del Norte remain under an advisory.

Los Angeles County reopened its beaches around 9:40 a.m. PT (12:40 p.m. ET) on Wednesday after advisories for Southern California were canceled, although NWS Los Angeles warned that “strong rip currents will likely continue” across Southern Californian beaches for the next few days and advised people to check with lifeguards about water conditions.

California reported its first tsunami waves just after 1 a.m. PT (4 a.m. ET). Water levels in Crescent City, which is in Northern California near Oregon, went up to 1.5 ft (0.5 m), data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed.

NWS Bay Area reported that tsunami waves arrived in San Francisco around the same time, while NWS Los Angeles said that the tsunami was “making its way down the coast,” though it previously noted for Southern California residents that “widespread inundation is not expected.”

Tsunami warnings were in place for a 40-mi stretch of coastline in northern California from the town of Klamath up to the Oregon border as of around 6 a.m. PT, according to the NWS. An advisory warning was also in place for the rest of the U.S. West Coast.

Guam

Tsunami alerts have been lifted in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Waves up to a foot had been observed in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific where there had been an advisory warning, according to the island’s civil defense office. 

Hawaii

Evacuation orders and tsunami advisories in the archipelagic state of Hawaii have been lifted, as of Wednesday afternoon.

“Tsunami wave heights across the state of Hawaii are now below advisory levels and are continuing to diminish,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said around 9 a.m. local time (3 p.m. ET). “Small sea level changes and strong or unusual currents may persist for several additional hours in some coastal areas.”

Hawaii was first hit by tsunami waves around 7:30 p.m. HST, Tuesday (1:30 a.m. ET, Wednesday), according to NOAA data, which showed that waves as high as 5.7 ft (1.7 m) were detected in Kahului, Maui, coming in 34-minute intervals.

Gov. Josh Green said in a news conference Tuesday evening that “so far we have not seen a wave of consequence, which is a great relief to us.” Data from the Midway Atoll sitting between Japan and Hawaii saw waves as high as 1.8 m, and Green had warned that waves that could hit Hawaii may be bigger or smaller than that.

There have been no reports of damage thus far, and port gates in the state have reopened.