Tsunami Waves Reach Hawaii, California After Huge Quake off Russia

Beege Welborn

I just read the evacuation orders in Hawaii were lifted, and they were asking folks to report any damage, but so far this morning, the warnings continue for the entire California coastline.

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles said a rapid and damaging surge caused sea levels at Port St. Louis to rise from low tide to high tide within minutes.

"Waters will recede, but could return multiple times through the next 24 hours, and the first wave may not be the largest," it said on a X post.

The tsunami advisory is still in effect for the entire California coast.

It was a whale of a shaker off Russia.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck off Russia’s sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, sending tsunami waves into Japan, Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast. Several people were injured, but none gravely, and no major damage has been reported so far.

Authorities warned the risk from the 8.8 magnitude quake could last for hours, and millions of people potentially in the path of the waves were initially told to move away from the shore or seek high ground. But the danger already appeared to be lessening, with Hawaii and parts of Japan downgrading their warnings.

Residents fled inland as ports flooded on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula near the quake’s epicenter, while frothy, white waves washed up on the shore in northern Japan. Cars jammed streets and highways in Honolulu, with standstill traffic even in areas away from the sea.