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A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on July 29, triggering tsunami alerts for the entire U.S. West Coast and prompting evacuation warnings in Hawaii, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Hawaii was bracing for tsunami waves that could reach 10 feet as authorities urged residents and tourists to move to higher ground and evacuate from coastal zones.
"You can expect a tsunami wave to hit the state, and it will not just hit one beach," Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said at a news conference. "It will wrap around the islands."
The earthquake was recorded at 7:24 p.m. ET, about 78 miles east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said in its updated assessment. The agency said the quake was shallow, at a depth of about 12 miles.
Shortly before 11:30 p.m. ET, a tsunami advisory was upgraded to a warning for the coastal areas of California, from Cape Mendocino to the Oregon-California border, the weather service said. A tsunami warning means significant inundation is possible.
The tsunami warning also remains in effect from the coastal areas of Alaska from Samalga Pass to Attu, at the western end of the Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii.
