Russia: Magnitude 8.8 earthquake strikes off Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky coast, triggers widespread tsunami warnings across Pacific

MOSCOW: A powerful earthquake of magnitude 8.8 on Wednesday morning rattled across Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, triggering widespread tsunami warnings across the Pacific.

As per the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 20.7km, making it susceptible to aftershocks. Another earthquake of the same magnitude followed soon after. “Notable quake, preliminary info: M 8.0 – 136 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia”, USGS stated.

Notable quake, preliminary info: M 8.0 – 136 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia https://t.co/pecsU8xcSy

— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) July 29, 2025

Two aftershocks followed, one of magnitude 6.9 and 6.3 on the Richter Scale. “Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.9 – 147 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia”, the USGS noted. “Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.3 – 131 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia”, USGS said.

Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.9 – 147 km SE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia https://t.co/mu2sfSh4in

— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) July 30, 2025

Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.3 – 131 km SE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia https://t.co/5WtneGynfj

— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) July 30, 2025

Tsunami waves of up to 3-4 meters were recorded in Kamchatka, according to regional emergency minister Sergei Lebedev. Evacuations were ordered in Kamchatka, Japan, and other locations, including Hawaii, where a tsunami watch is in effect.

A tsunami has hit Russia’s far east coast, flooding a port town home to about 2,000 people, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said. “The tsunami flooded parts of the port town of Severo-Kurilsk … The population has been evacuated,” the ministry said in a statement, as per Al Jazeera.

– New images from Severo-Kurilsk, a city in Russia’s far east, show the aftermath of flooding caused by a tsunami, which began to recede this afternoon.

The port sustained significant damage due to complete inundation.

Meanwhile, traffic chaos persists in Hawaii as… pic.twitter.com/078WRo3ZEo

— The Informant (@theinformant_x) July 30, 2025

The July 29, 2025, M8.8 earthquake east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, occurred as the result of shallow reverse faulting. At the location of this earthquake, the Pacific plate is moving west-northwest with respect to the North America plate at about 77 mm/yr. Note, the North American plate extends westward beyond the North American continent. The earthquake’s location and sense of motion is consistent with faulting on the subduction zone plate interface of the Kuril-Kamchatka Arc, the USGS said in a statement.

While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this size are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area. Reverse faulting events of the size of the July 29, 2025, earthquake are typically about 390 km by 140 km in size (length x width).

The Kuril-Kamchatka arc has frequent moderate-to-large earthquakes and has hosted 31 additional M 6.5+ events within 250 km of the July 29, 2025, earthquake over the preceding century. This includes a M7.4 earthquake on July 20, 2025, which would now be considered a foreshock of the July 29, 2025, M8.7 event. The July 29, 2025, epicenter is located 45 km southeast of the 1952 M 9.0 Kamchatka earthquake epicenter, which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, as per USGS. (ANI)