Huge Russian quake triggers tsunami alert across Pacific

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded triggered a series of tsunami warnings and evacuations across much of the Pacific yesterday, although many governments later downgraded their warnings after the impact of the water surges was less than initially feared.

- Gavin Blair Tokyo Kate Lamb Oliver Holmes

The shallow quake hit off eastern Russia, with reports of waves up to 4 metres high in some remote regions in the Pacific.

Later yesterday, the Russian Geophysical Survey said the quake had also led to a violent eruption of the Klyuchevskoy volcano, which is near the epicentre.

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck at a depth of 12 miles and was centred 78 miles south-east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city in Russia's Avacha Bay, the US Geological Survey said.

Only one death has been reported so far related to the tsunami - Japan's Asahi Shimbun news outlet said a 58-year-old woman died after her car veered off a cliff as she drove it towards the safety of higher ground.

Many reports suggested damage was most significant in Russia, where a tsunami with a height of 3 to 4 metres was recorded on parts of the shore. Video footage showed a flooded port and a building being swept away. The government in Moscow claimed there were no fatalities.