Huge quake off Russia sparks Pacific tsunami warnings

This frame grab taken from video released by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations on July 30, 2025 shows rescuers inspecting a damaged kindergarten building in Russia's Kamchatka region after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off far east coast. [AFP]

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunamis up to four metres (12 feet) across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.

The magnitude 8.8 quake struck in the morning off Petropavlovsk on Russia's remote Kamchatka peninsula and was one of the 10 biggest recorded, according to the USGS.