Tsunami warnings issued across Pacific after massive earthquake off Kamchatka, Korea unlikely to be affected

A massive 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday morning, prompting widespread tsunami warnings across the Pacific, including in Japan and the United States.

A television screen shows a news report on Japan Weather Agency's tsunami warning, saying it expected tsunami waves of up to 3 meters (10 feet) to reach large coastal areas in Japan after a powerful earthquake struck off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, in Tokyo, Japan, on July 30. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

A massive 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday morning, prompting widespread tsunami warnings across the Pacific, including in Japan and the United States.

South Korea’s meteorological authorities, however, said the quake is unlikely to significantly impact the Korean Peninsula.

“Sea levels may rise by a small margin near Ulleung Island within five hours,” an official at Korea’s Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. “But we do not expect major effects on the Korean Peninsula.”

The earthquake occurred at 11:24 a.m. local time, in the waters 133 kilometers (83 miles) southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The quake originated at a depth of 19 kilometers near latitude 52.47 degrees north and longitude 160.40 degrees east, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS initially reported the earthquake as magnitude 8.0 but later upgraded it to 8.7.

Japan authorities issued a tsunami warning of up to 3 meters along Japan's Pacific coast on July 30. [NHK]

Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a tsunami advisory for the country’s Pacific coastline at 8:37 a.m., then upgraded it to a full tsunami warning at 9:40 a.m. The agency forecast wave heights between 1 and 3 meters and warned residents to seek higher ground.

NHK issued an emergency broadcast at 9:47 a.m., urging residents in affected areas to evacuate quickly to higher ground.

By region, JMA predicted 3-meter waves could reach the eastern, central and western Pacific coasts of Hokkaido; Aomori and Iwate Prefectures; Kujukuri and Sotobo in Chiba Prefecture; Uchibo in Chiba Prefecture; Fukushima Prefecture; Izu Islands; Sagami Bay and Miura Peninsula; Ogasawara Islands; Offshore Aichi Prefecture; Southern Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture.

Tsunami arrival times were forecast for 10 a.m. along eastern Hokkaido’s Pacific coast, 11 a.m. in Fukushima Prefecture, and 12:30 p.m. in Miyazaki Prefecture. At 10:30 a.m., a 30-centimeter wave was observed in Hanasaki, Nemuro, Hokkaido.

A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30. [KOREA METEOROLOGICAL ADMINISTRATION]

The United States also issued tsunami advisories through the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California. The center forecast waves of 1 to 3 meters for Guam, Hawaii and Japan; 0.3 to 1 meter for the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Philippines; and under 0.3 meters for South Korea, North Korea and Taiwan.

Russian authorities raised tsunami alerts for the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin region. According to TASS news agency, power outages and disruptions to wireless communication were reported in parts of Kamchatka.

Aftershocks followed the initial quake. The USGS recorded a magnitude 6.9 quake at 9:09 a.m. Korea time in nearly the same location. A third quake, measuring 6.3, struck at 9:16 a.m. Both occurred at depths of 10 kilometers.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY CHO MUN-GYU [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]