Tsunamis hit parts of Russia’s Far East and Japan on Wednesday after a huge magnitude 8.8 earthquake, with warnings in place around the Pacific of waves of over three metres (10 feet) in places.
Russia’s emergencies ministry said a tsunami hit and flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, where the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated.
A video posted on Russian social media appeared to show buildings in the town submerged in seawater.
Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none of them seriously.
Live footage on Japanese television showed people evacuating by car or on foot to higher ground, including the northern island of Hokkaido, where the first wave, measuring 30 centimetres (one foot) was observed.
Wednesday’s quake was the strongest since 1952 in Russia’s Kamchatka region, the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported.
The epicenter of the earthquake is roughly the same as the massive 9.0 temblor that year which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the USGS.
At least six aftershocks have further rattled the region, including one of 6.9 magnitude and another listed at 6.3.বিস্তারিত