Russian earthquake: millions return home after tsunami warnings lifted across Pacific

Tsunami warnings issued across the Pacific Ocean were lifted on Wednesday, allowing millions of evacuees to return home after a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Russia’s remote Kamchatka Peninsula.

The quake, one of the strongest ever recorded, prompted alerts and emergency evacuations in over a dozen countries including Japan, the United States, Chile, and Ecuador.

Storm surges of up to four meters (12 feet) were forecast for some Pacific coastal regions, prompting authorities to urge residents to seek higher ground.

While widespread disruptions were reported — including closed ports in Peru and flight cancellations in Hawaii — the anticipated devastation did not materialise, and damage across most regions was minimal.

In Japan, nearly two million residents were evacuated amid fears of incoming waves. The Fukushima nuclear facility, destroyed in 2011 by a similar natural disaster, was briefly evacuated as a precaution.

Tragically, one fatality was reported — a woman who died after driving off a cliff while attempting to flee, according to local reports.

Chilean officials carried out what the Interior Ministry described as "perhaps the most massive evacuation ever carried out in our country," with 1.4 million people moved to safer ground. Despite the scale of the evacuation, Chile reported no casualties or significant damage, with wave heights reaching only around 60 centimeters (two feet) on its northern coast.

In Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, waves of up to three meters had been expected, but ultimately only slight surges were observed. The Ecuadoran navy’s oceanographic institute declared the threat over by late Wednesday. Local residents described a sudden drop and rise in sea levels — a common tsunami signature — but there were no reports of injuries or destruction.

Earlier, precautionary measures saw national parks closed, schools shut, tourists evacuated from sightseeing boats, and warnings blaring from public loudspeakers in multiple countries.

Russia, closest to the epicenter, experienced the most significant damage.

In Severo-Kurilsk, a tsunami engulfed the port and submerged a local fishing plant. Russian state television broadcast images of buildings and debris being washed into the sea. Mayor Alexander Ovsyannikov said the water surge reached as far as the town’s World War II monument, approximately 400 meters inland.

Despite the earthquake’s intensity, injuries were reported as minor. Russian scientists also noted that the Klyuchevskoy volcano erupted soon after the quake, spewing lava and ash.

“Red-hot lava is observed flowing down the western slope. There is a powerful glow above the volcano and explosions,” reported Russia's Geophysical Survey.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Kamchatka quake was one of the ten most powerful recorded since 1900. The regional seismic monitoring center stated it was the strongest in Kamchatka since 1952. More than 30 aftershocks followed the initial quake, including one with a magnitude of 6.9. Experts have warned of a 59 percent chance of another tremor exceeding 7.0 within the week.