Overnight, the Pacific was rocked when a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Russian far-east, occurring near the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. This huge quake naturally led to concerns of an incoming tsunami, with warnings now posted across Hawaii, Japan, the West Coast of the United States, other Pacific Islands, and more, with some areas already registering smaller tsunami waves hitting their shores.
As per Reuters, waves as tall as five metres have hit Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, all while Hawaiian islands have faced waves of 1-1.2 metres in height. There is still reasonable cause for concern, so much so that residents of Hawaii in particular have been told to "take action," and to get above ground, onto the fourth floor of buildings, with the coast guard even moving ships out of the harbour. Over in Japan, much the same is happening, as some of the eastern seaboard have been ordered to evacuate.
The waves that have hit Kamchatka have fortunately not been too destructive, with them mainly flooding the port and a nearby fish processing plant, and the same has been reported with the quake and the following tremors, with no deaths or serious injuries reported as of yet. Even most buildings managed to survive the strong quake, which those near its epicentre described as lasting for several minutes.
It seems that the cause for concern is now over, but it is worth knowing that this was one of the strongest quakes in decades that has hit the Kamchatka Peninsula, with the 1952 quake being the most comparable alternative.