A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Kamchatka (Russia)
The strongest earthquake to hit the region since 1952
A series of countries along the Pacific Ocean issued tsunami warnings and evacuated residents, especially Russia, the US, Japan
Tsunami waves were recorded in many locations but the intensity was smaller than initially forecast
There are currently no notable losses recorded in the countries
The largest volcano in Eurasia erupts after earthquake
Here is a breakdown of the events that occurred during the day. Latest information is updated at the top of the article.

Volcano erupts in Russia
The Klyuchevskoy volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has begun erupting after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, Reuters reported, citing Russia’s geological monitoring agency.

“A lava flow was observed on the western slope. The volcano glowed, accompanied by explosions,” the Joint Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement on Telegram.

Located about 450 km (280 miles) north of the capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Klyuchevskoy is one of the world’s tallest volcanoes. It has erupted several times in recent years.

BREAKING: Eurasia’s tallest volcano erupts in Russia, close to megaquake site – Photo 1.
Klyuchevskoy volcano erupts. Photo: Joint Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Japan downgrades, China, Russia cancel tsunami warning
Russian authorities on the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands have canceled tsunami warnings but said the risk of aftershocks and tsunamis remains. The regional branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry in Kamchatka warned that aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude were possible. It said there was a possibility of further tsunamis in Avacha Bay, where Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is located.

China has also canceled a tsunami warning for its eastern coast.

Meanwhile, Japan downgraded its tsunami warning to advisory in all areas.

French Polynesia issues tsunami warning, French armed forces ‘on alert’
The authorities of French Polynesia have issued a tsunami warning for the Marquesas Islands, with waves of up to 4 metres high forecast to hit the islands of Ua Huka, Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa overnight.

The French Armed Forces in French Polynesia have been put on “alert” in case they need to provide search and rescue assistance or medical evacuations.

French Polynesia is a French overseas territory in the South Pacific Ocean, covering more than 5.3 million square kilometers and 118 islands.

Hawaii and parts of Japan downgrade tsunami warnings
Hawaii lifts statewide evacuation orders but maintains a tsunami advisory. Officials in Hawaii say residents who have evacuated can return home.

Meanwhile, the Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded a tsunami warning to advisory for the Pacific coast south of Fukushima, but the warning remains in place further north.

Shanghai grapples with dual threat
China’s Ministry of Natural Resources’ Tsunami Warning Center has issued a warning for parts of the country’s eastern coast along the provinces of Shanghai and Zhejiang.

Shanghai is now grappling with a dual threat as it faces the threat of a tsunami from a powerful earthquake off the coast of Kamchatka, Russia, and a severe tropical storm called Co May. Early this morning, July 30, Typhoon Co May made landfall in the port city of Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province.

More than 280,000 people have been evacuated from the city, and hundreds of flights and ferry services have been suspended.

California experiences its first tsunami
California has begun to see its first tsunami waves with rising water levels in Crescent City, Northern California, near the Oregon border. According to data from the US National Weather Service, a wave of more than 30 cm was recorded, and more waves are expected in the coming time.

The city, located along the 100-mile (160-km) coastline of Northern California, is currently under a tsunami warning, the highest level of warning. According to the National Weather Service, the area is at high risk of tsunamis due to its unique underwater terrain that can “transmit wave energy.”

California has the largest coastal population in the country, with nearly 27 million people living in coastal counties, according to the US Coast Guard.

The Philippines, Indonesia, China, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Panama and Taiwan (China) have also issued tsunami advisories, warnings and watches.

Tsunami begins to hit US coast

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that tsunami waves have begun to hit the US coast, with the first waves hitting Hawaii.

According to data, water levels were recorded at over 1.2 meters at Haleiwa, on the north coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Earlier, live webcam footage from the islands of Kauai and Oahu, home to Honolulu, showed that sea levels had begun to recede significantly in some areas. Tsunamis often cause water to recede abnormally from the coast before the main wave hits.

Russia declares state of emergency on islands hit by tsunami
The government of the Sakhalin region in Russia’s Far East has declared a state of emergency on the northern Kuril Islands, where the tsunami destroyed many buildings and caused flooding, AFP reported.

The tsunami near the Russian town of Severo-Kurilsk in the Pacific Ocean was more than 3m high. The strongest wave reached 5m, according to RIA.

HOT: The tallest volcano in Eurasia erupts in Russia, right next to the area where the super earthquake just occurred – Photo 2.
Tsunami causes flooding in Russia’s Far East. Photo: RT

CNN: Tsunami hits near Tokyo, Japan issues evacuation advisory for 1.9 million

According to data from the Japan Meteorological Agency, tsunami waves of about 30-50 centimeters (12-20 inches) high are being recorded along the east coast, moving closer to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. This is much lower than initial forecasts of up to 3 meters, but the level is subject to change and additional waves are possible.

More than 1.9 million people across Japan have been advised to move to safer ground, as the tsunami hit many coastal areas and disrupted transport across the country – although the tsunami’s intensity was still much smaller than previously forecast.

The majority of those under evacuation orders are from Hokkaido, Kanagawa and Wakayama prefectures.

BREAKING: Eurasia’s tallest volcano erupts in Russia, near the site of a recent mega-earthquake – Photo 3.
Huge waves hit the coast of Japan. Photo: Asahi Shimbun

China, Philippines and South American countries issue warnings
The scale of the tsunami continues to increase, forcing countries across the Pacific to take precautions.

China: The Tsunami Warning Center under the Ministry of Natural Resources of China has issued a warning for the country’s eastern coastal areas along Shanghai and Zhejiang provinces. The warning predicts tsunami waves of 0.3 to 1 meter high.

Philippines: The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has advised people along the country’s Pacific coast to stay away from beaches and coastal areas. The agency said a tsunami of less than 1 meter high is expected to hit between 1:20 p.m. and 2:40 p.m. local time.

According to the Peruvian Navy, officials have issued a tsunami warning and said they will “continuously monitor” the situation. Ecuador has ordered a precautionary evacuation of beaches, piers and low-lying areas in the Galápagos Islands off its coast, according to AFP.

Mexico has also mobilized “all levels of government” to prevent people from going to Pacific beaches.

In a report, the force’s tsunami warning center said the tsunami would begin hitting the northern coast in Ensenada, near California, at around 2:22 a.m. Central Mexico time, and would continue moving south along the Pacific coast until reaching the states of Chiapas at around 7:15 a.m. local time.

Japan records tsunami in 16 locations, 900,000 advised to evacuate
The Japan Meteorological Agency said tsunami waves as high as 40cm were detected in 16 locations as the waves moved south along the Pacific coast, from Hokkaido to northeast of Tokyo.

Officials urged caution, warning of the risk of larger waves.

Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency has issued evacuation advisories for more than 900,000 people in 133 cities along the coast of Japan. It is not yet clear how many people have actually found shelter.

HOT: The tallest volcano in Eurasia erupts in Russia, right next to the area where the super earthquake just occurred – Photo 4.
Japanese people take shelter on the roof of a building after receiving a tsunami advisory. Photo: Guardian

All workers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant have also been evacuated despite “no unusual phenomena” being observed at the site.

Tsunami advisory extends to US, Canadian West Coast, Trump says
The US National Tsunami Warning Center, based in Alaska, has issued a tsunami advisory for parts of California, Oregon and Washington. A tsunami advisory has also been issued for much of the coast of British Columbia on Canada’s Pacific Coast.

US officials have warned people not to be complacent, stressing that the tsunami is not a single wave.

“This is NOT a single wave. DO NOT attempt to go to the beach to take pictures,” the National Weather Service’s San Francisco Bay Area office posted on X.

US President Donald Trump has urged Americans to “stay strong and stay safe” in a post on Truth Social.

“Due to a large earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, a Tsunami Warning is in effect for people living in Hawaii. A Tsunami Warning is also in effect for Alaska and the Pacific Coast of Hawaii.

Kuril earthquake forced residents to evacuate the Russian coastal town of Severo-Kurilsk on the morning of July 30, RT reported, citing local officials.

According to Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko, the first tsunami hit the coast of Severo-Kurilsk shortly after the earthquake was recorded near the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of the entire population of the town, estimated at more than 2,500 people, to higher ground, away from the coast.

USGS continues to “upgrade” the magnitude of the earthquake to 8.8
The US Geological Survey has revised its preliminary estimate of the earthquake off the coast of Kamchatka (Russia) to 8.8 magnitude.

If the 8.8 figure is officially recorded, the quake would become one of the 10 most powerful earthquakes ever recorded.

The USGS had previously revised the magnitude of the quake up from 8 to 8.7.

On its website, the USGS explained that the quake was caused by a shallow reverse fault where the Pacific Plate is moving west-northwest relative to the North American Plate at a rate of about 77 mm/year.

Although earthquakes are usually represented by a point on a map, large-scale quakes like this are better described as slippage across a large fault zone.

According to the USGS, the Kuril–Kamchatka arc is prone to moderate to large earthquakes, and has recorded 31 earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or greater within 250 km of the location of this quake.

The epicentre was about 45km southeast of the epicentre of the 1952 magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka, which triggered a devastating tsunami that spread across the Pacific.

Japan issues tsunami warning

The Japan Meteorological Agency raised the alert level, saying waves as high as 3 metres were expected to hit large coastal areas starting at around 01:00 GMT. The government has issued evacuation orders for some areas, public broadcaster NHK said.

Factory workers and residents in northern Hokkaido were forced to move to a hill overlooking the sea, according to footage from TBS.

“Please evacuate quickly. If possible, move to higher ground and stay away from the coast,” NHK warned.

Hawaii Orders ‘Immediate Evacuations’
Officials in Hawaii have ordered “immediate evacuations” of several coastal areas, including the state capital Honolulu. “Take Action! Destructive Tsunami Expected,” the Honolulu Emergency Management Department said in a post on X.

BREAKING: Eurasia’s Tallest Volcano Erupts in Russia, Near Site of Megaquake – Photo 5.

Strongest Earthquake in Decades
A magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East on July 30, triggering a tsunami of up to 4 meters (13 feet) high, forcing residents to evacuate, Reuters reported, citing Russian officials.

“Today’s earthquake is very serious and the strongest in decades,” Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on Telegram.

The shallow quake was 19.3 km (12 miles) deep, and its epicenter was about 125 km (80 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000 people along the coast of Avacha Bay, the US Geological Survey said. The agency revised the quake’s magnitude up from a previous magnitude of 8.

BREAKING: Eurasia’s tallest volcano erupts in Russia, close to where the megaquake occurred – Photo 6.

The epicenter is off the coast of Russia. Photo: Radio NZ

A tsunami warning has been issued for Russia’s Far East coast, as well as Japan, Alaska and Hawaii.

“Severe tsunami warning for the coast of Avacha Bay!” Russia’s emergency services said.

“A tsunami of up to 32 cm in height is possible in the Aleutsky district, up to 20 cm in Ust-Kamchatsky and up to 6 cm in the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky district,” the Kamchatka branch of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said. “The wave height is not high, but it is NECESSARY to move away from the coast. No one should approach to observe the tsunami under any circumstances – it could be dangerous.”

Russians reported strong shaking during the initial aftershocks, causing furniture to fall and car alarms to sound. According to video from the scene, the wall of a kindergarten in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky collapsed. No casualties have been confirmed yet.

BREAKING: Eurasia’s tallest volcano erupts in Russia, near the site of a massive earthquake – Photo 7.
The wall of a kindergarten in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky collapsed. Photo: RT

In the Kuril Islands, authorities have also declared a tsunami risk after seismic activity was recorded near Severo-Kurilsk, located on Paramushir Island. Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko confirmed that evacuations are underway in the area as a precaution.

Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and the entire state of Hawaii are under a tsunami warning from the Tsunami Warning Center