A magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula early Wednesday, the strongest in the region since 1952 and one of the ten largest recorded worldwide, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The shallow quake, centred about 120 kilometres east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, prompted immediate tsunami alerts across the Pacific Rim. In Russia’s Far East, tsunami surges between three and five metres inundated the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, damaging harbour infrastructure and sweeping vessels from their moorings. Regional authorities and the Kremlin reported several minor injuries but no deaths, crediting sturdy construction and timely evacuations. Tsunami warnings or advisories rippled around the ocean basin. Japan ordered roughly two million residents to higher ground after a 1.3-metre wave hit Miyagi Prefecture; the alert was later downgraded. Hawaii recorded waves up to 1.7 metres, leading to brief coastal evacuations, and surges of about half a metre reached California and British Columbia. French Polynesia’s Marquesas Islands saw a 1.5-metre wave, while Chile, Mexico, Colombia and other Latin-American nations activated coastal evacuations as a precaution. Many jurisdictions lifted or lowered warnings within hours as wave heights moderated. Seismic activity continued with dozens of aftershocks, and the Klyuchevskoy volcano on Kamchatka began erupting, sending lava down its western flank. Despite scattered infrastructure damage and widespread disruption to transport, ports and classes, authorities across the Pacific reported minimal injuries and no major casualties as alerts eased through the day.