Massive earthquake strikes Russia's Far East

Tremor sends huge waves across Pacific

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One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's sparsely populated Far East yesterday, causing tsunamis up to four metres across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.

The magnitude 8.8 quake struck in the morning off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s remote Kamchatka peninsula and was one of the 10 biggest recorded, according to the USGS.

Russian authorities said a tsunami hit and flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, while local media said one of between three and four metres high was recorded in the Elizovsky district of Kamchatka.

A video posted on Russian social media showed buildings in the town submerged in seawater. Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated.

Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none seriously.