Tsunami waves hit Russia, US, Japan after major earthquake

Tsunami waves hit Russia, US, Japan after major earthquake

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake, one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded, struck off Russia’s Far East region in the early hours of yesterday, sending tsunami waves into a number of countries.

There have been no deaths, though there were some minor injuries. No major damage has been reported so far.

Millions of people in several countries were told to evacuate from coastal and low-lying areas.

The worst seems to have passed for many areas, including in Russia, Japan and the U.S.

However, new warnings have been issued along South America’s Pacific Coast, forcing evacuations in Chile and Colombia.

Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world.

Dubbed the “land of fire and ice”, it has about 300 volcanoes, with 29 of them still active, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

Earthquakes and tsunamis regularly strike the 1,200-km (750-mile)-long peninsula that lies close to an ocean trench, where two tectonic plates meet.

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Kamchatka and a few nearby islands have a population of about 290,000 with about 162,000 of them living in the regional capital of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Avacha Bay on the peninsula’s southeast.

There are few roads on the peninsula, with helicopters being the only way to reach most areas.

A major base for Russian nuclear submarines is located in Avacha Bay.

A team of medics was in the middle of surgery in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Russia’s Far East when the powerful tremor struck.

CCTV footage released by the Kamchatka region’s Health Ministry showed them using their hands to try to steady both the patient and their equipment.

“Despite the danger, the doctors remained calm and stayed with the patient until the very end,” Health Minister Oleg Melnikov wrote on Telegram. He gave no details of the surgery but added that the patient was out of danger.

Tsunami waves hit Russia, US, Japan after major earthquake