One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded sent a tsunami crashing into a Russian port and smaller waves barrelling across the Pacific to the Americas and south to New Zealand.

The danger had largely passed more than a day after the 8.8 magnitude quake, which was centred off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East. No major damage was reported and tsunami warnings were cancelled in most areas. Chile, however, raised its warning to the highest level early Wednesday for most of its lengthy Pacific coast and started evacuating hundreds of people.

The shallow quake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard – devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 – was ordered to evacuate, as were parts of Hawaii.

Klyuchevskoy volcano in Russia's far east starts erupting after earthquake. – Reuters

By the evening, Japan, Hawaii and Russia had downgraded most tsunami warnings. But Chile upgraded its warning to the highest level for most of its lengthy Pacific coast, and said it was evacuating hundreds of people.

Maritime traffic is also being restricted. Officials say strong currents and tsunami waves were possible in two coastal states, including one that borders Ecuador.

Officials in Colombia have ordered the complete closure and evacuation of beaches and low-tide areas along the country’s Pacific coast.

Japanese residents evacuate to higher ground as tsunami threat issued. – Reuters

Authorities in French Polynesia warned residents of several of the remote Marquesas Islands to move to higher ground and expect waves as high as 2.5 metres (8 feet).

Tsunami waves began hitting the Marquesas but were forecast to be smaller than initially feared, local authorities said.

People watch the coast area from higher ground after Japan issued evacuation alert. – Reuters

Some initial wave surges were reported on Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas, about 1400 kilometres northeast of Tahiti, and between five to 10 additional waves were expected in the coming hours, the high commission said.

Russian scientists said the quake in Kamchatka was the most powerful to hit the region since 1952. The US Geological Survey said it was shallow, at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and centred 119 km (74 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000.

"It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least three minutes," said Yaroslav, 25, in the city.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there had been no casualties in Russia, crediting solid building construction and the smooth operation of alert systems.

In Severo-Kurilsk in the northern Kuril Islands, tsunami waves exceeded 3 metres, with the largest up to 5 metres, Russia's RIA news agency reported. A quake of magnitude 6.07 later struck the Kuril Islands that lie between Kamchatka and northern Japan, the German Research Centre for Geosciences said.

Powerful earthquake strikes as surgeons in Russia operate on patient. – AP

The islands were captured by the Soviet Union from Japan in the closing days of World War II. Japan asserts territorial rights to the islands it calls the Northern Territories, and the dispute has kept the countries from signing a peace treaty.

The islands have a population of about 20,000, and the local economy is based on fishing. The Russian military has bolstered its presence in the area, refurbishing a Soviet-era air base and other outposts.

A tsunami has hit Russia's Kuril Islands. - AP

Tsunami waves partially flooded the port and a fish processing plant in the town, sweeping vessels from moorings, regional officials and Russia's emergency ministry said. Verified drone footage showed the town's entire shoreline submerged, with taller buildings and some storage facilities surrounded by water.

The Klyuchevskoy volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula began erupting later, a geological monitoring service said. Located around 450 km (280 miles) north of the regional capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Klyuchevskoy is one of the highest volcanoes in the world.

"A descent of burning hot lava is observed on the western slope. Powerful glow above the volcano, explosions," the Russian Academy of Sciences' United Geophysical Service said.

Scientists have anticipated the eruption for some time, with the volcano’s crater filling with lava for weeks and the mountain emitting plumes of ash. It last erupted in 2023.

Dubbed the “land of fire and ice,” Kamchatka is one of the most active volcanic regions on Earth. It has about 300 volcanoes, with 29 of them still active, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory. Quakes and tsunamis regularly strike the peninsula that lies close to an ocean trench where two tectonic plates meet.

Tsunami threats issued across the Pacific. – NOAA

The 1200-kilometre (750-mile)-long peninsula nine time zones east of Moscow faces the Pacific Ocean on its east and the Sea of Okhotsk along its west coast. 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.

The capital was protected from big tsunami waves by its location on the bay. Emergency workers evacuated about 60 tourists from a beach of black volcanic sand on the Pacific side.

Earthquake in Russia's Far East sets off tsunami warnings. – AP

Tsunami waves could have been as high as 10 to 15 meters (30 to 50 feet) in some sections of the Kamchatka coast, Russia's Oceanology Institute said, noting the biggest were under 6 meters (about 19 1/2 feet) near populated areas of the peninsula and the nearby Kuril islands.

There are few roads on the peninsula, and helicopters are the only way to reach most areas. Fishing is the main economic activity. A major base for Russian nuclear submarines is located in Avacha Bay.

Sea lions jump into the sea to escape earthquake in Russia's Kuril islands. – AP

Tourists sailing in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kurils watched as a group of sea lions jumped en masse from a rocky outcropping on Antsiferov Island and swam away as the quake hit, a tour guide said.

The sea lions seemed “very scared and a terrible rumble began,” said tour organizer Alexander Bogoslovskiy, adding that all the tourists were safe from the effects of the quake and tsunami.

Waves in Hawaii, Japan

Hawaii recorded waves of up to 1.7 metres while in Japan the largest recorded came to 1.3 metres, officials said.

Flights out of Honolulu airport resumed in the evening, the transportation department said.

Waves of nearly half a metre were observed as far away as California, with smaller ones reaching British Columbia, Canada.

'Get yourself as high as you possibly can' - Mayor of Honolulu Rick Blangiardi has advised residents to take shelter and brace for impact. - AP

But a tsunami advisory was cancelled for coastal BC as well as coastal areas of south Alaska.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the threat of a major tsunami hitting the United States “has passed completely.”

Noem, speaking in Chile where she is attending meetings with officials, told reporters in the capital, Santiago: “We’re in really good shape right now. We were fully deployed and ready to respond if necessary, but grateful that we didn’t have to deal with the situation that this could have been.”

Warnings across Pacific 

Authorities in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, some 970 km (600 miles) off South America's western coast, ordered precautionary evacuations to safe zones.

Tsunami alarms sounded in coastal towns across Japan's Pacific coast and evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of people.

The aftermath of tsunami hitting the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, Russia. – Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences via AP

Workers evacuated the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster, operator TEPCO said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said no injuries or damage had been reported, and there were no irregularities at any nuclear plants.

'Ring of Fire' 

Kamchatka and Russia's Far East sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The quake occurred on what is known as a "megathrust fault" where the denser Pacific Plate is sliding underneath the lighter North American Plate, according to scientists.

The Pacific Plate has been on the move, making the Kamchatka Peninsula off Russia's Far East coast especially vulnerable, and bigger aftershocks could not be ruled out, they said.

Video footage from the region's health ministry showed a team of medics in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky performing surgery as the quake shook their operating theatre. The medics used their hands to try to steady both the patient and their equipment, CCTV footage released by the Kamchatka region's health ministry showed.

Earthquake off Russia’s Far East numbers among the strongest ever recorded. – AP

Russia quake among the world's strongest recorded

The earthquake appeared to be the strongest anywhere in the world since the March 2011 earthquake off northeast Japan that was 9.0 magnitude and caused a massive tsunami that set off meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. Only a few stronger earthquakes have ever been measured around the world.

The quake was the strongest to hit this area in the Kamchatka Peninsula since 1952, according to the local branch of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

They said that while the situation “was under control” there are risks of aftershocks, which could last for up to a month and warned against visiting certain coastal areas.

Here's a glance at some of the most powerful earthquakes recorded previously, according to the US Geological Survey:

Biobío, Chile

A 9.5 magnitude earthquake struck in a central region of Chile in 1960. Known as the Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean earthquake, the largest ever recorded temblor resulted in more than 1,600 deaths in the country and beyond, most of which were caused by resulting large tsunami. Thousands of people were injured.

Alaska

In 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake jolted the Alaska’s Prince William Sound, lasting for almost 5 minutes. More than 130 people were killed in the largest recorded earthquake in the U.S. and subsequent tsunami. There were huge landslides and towering waves that caused severe flooding. The event was followed by thousands of aftershocks for weeks after the initial quake.

Sumatra, Indonesia

A 9.1 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami devastated Southeast and South Asia and East Africa in 2004, killing 230,000 people. Indonesia alone recorded more than 167,000 deaths as entire communities were wiped out.

Tohoku, Japan

A magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan in 2011, triggering a towering tsunami that smashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant. It knocked out power and cooling systems and triggered meltdowns in three reactors. More than 18,000 people were killed in the quake and tsunami, some of whom have never been recovered.

Kamchatka, Russia

In 1952, a magnitude 9.0 quake caused significant damage but no reported deaths despite a tsunami that hit Hawaii with 9.1-metre (30-foot) waves.

Biobío, Chile

A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Chile in 2010, shaking the capital for a minute and half and setting off a tsunami. More than 500 people were killed in the disaster.

Esmeraldas, Ecuador

In 1906, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami killed about 1,500 people. Its effects were felt for miles along the Central American coast and as far as San Francisco and Japan.

Alaska

In 1965, a magnitude 8.7 quake struck Alaska’s Rat Islands, causing an 11-meter (35-foot)-high tsunami. There was some relatively minor damage, including cracks in buildings and an asphalt runway.

Tibet

At least 780 people were killed when a magnitude 8.6 earthquake struck in 1950. Dozens of villages were destroyed, including at least one that slid into a river. There were also major landslides that jammed the Subansiri River in India. When the water eventually broke through, it resulted in a deadly 7-meter (23-foot) wave.

Sumatra, Indonesia

In 2012, a powerful 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia. Though the quake caused little damage, it increased pressure on a fault that was the source of the devastating 2004 tsunami.