How one of the world's most powerful earthquakes caused millions to flee

Telegraph

2 days ago

One of the most powerful earthquakes in history triggered a tsunami that made landfall in Russia, Japan and the US.
Millions of people on both sides of the Pacific were told to evacuate to higher ground after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the Kamchatka Peninsula caused waves of up to 16ft.
While threat-to-life warnings were issued in Hawaii, a state of emergency was declared in parts of Russia, California residents were told to stay away from the coastline and much of Japan's Eastern seaboard was evacuated, the damage appeared to be limited.
Buildings were shaken in Russia and Japan, and flooding was reported in Hawaii. On the Kamchatka peninsula, near the epicentre, some people hurt themselves while rushing to leave their homes, and a hospital patient injured themselves while jumping out of a window.
In Japan, it was reported that a 58-year-old woman died when her car fell off a cliff while she was evacuating in the central Mie prefecture.
The tsunami threat has now been downgraded, but cautions to stay away from beaches were issued by officials in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Federated States of Micronesia and Solomon Islands.
Russia
The massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake is believed to be the sixth strongest in history.
It struck just off Russia's far eastern coast at around 11.25am local time (12.25am in the UK), triggering tsunami alerts in Japan, the US west coast, parts of Alaska, Hawaii and Guam.
In Severo-Kurilsk in the northern Kuril islands, south of Kamchatka, tsunami waves exceeded 9ft, with the largest reaching up to 16ft, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Tsunamis form when an undersea earthquake displaces a large volume of water, creating low waves, often 1-2ft high, in the open ocean.
These waves race across deep water at speeds rivalling a jet plane, up to 600 mph. As they near shallower coasts, the slowing base of the wave compresses its energy, pushing water upward into towering waves or powerful surges that flood the shore.
Tsunami waves struck parts of Kamchatka in the Russian region, partially flooding the port and a fish processing plant in the town of Severo-Kurilsk and sweeping vessels from their moorings.
Drone footage showed the town's entire shoreline was submerged, with taller buildings and some storage facilities surrounded by water.
'Today's earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors,' Vladimir Solodov, the governor of Kamchatka, said in a statement.
Russian scientists said it was the most powerful to hit the region since 1952, and was the largest since 2011 when one of magnitude 9.1 off Japan and a subsequent tsunami killed more than 15,000 people.
A video released by a Russian media outlet showed a team of doctors at a cancer clinic on Kamchatka holding a patient and clutching medical equipment as the quake rocked an operating room, before continuing with surgery after the shaking stopped. Officials said the doctors will receive decorations.
Another video showed terrified residents screaming inside an apartment building as it shook from side to side, with cutlery and pictures crashing onto the floor.
Russian emergency services said that a kindergarten was damaged, but most buildings withstood the quake, with no serious injuries or fatalities reported.
Kamchatka and Russia's Far East sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Japan
Following the earthquake, tsunami alarms sounded in coastal towns across Japan's Pacific coast, and evacuation orders were issued for 1.9 million people.
Footage broadcast by NHK showed scores of people on the northern island of Hokkaido on the roof of a building, sheltering as waves of up to 2ft crashed down below.
Three tsunami waves were recorded in Japan, the largest of 4.3ft, officials said. Tsunami waves of 3-9ft can be fatal for people who are swept away, according to experts.
Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said nearly two million residents were under evacuation advisories in more than 220 municipalities along the Pacific coast as of midday on Wednesday.
Workers were forced to evacuate the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster.
Broadcaster Asahi TV reported that a 58-year-old woman died when her car fell off a cliff while she was evacuating in central Japan's Mie prefecture.
Carmaker Nissan suspended operations at some factories in Japan to ensure employee safety, Kyodo news agency reported.
Four whales washed up on a beach south of Tokyo in the aftermath of the earthquake.
Footage filmed in Tateyama, Chiba, shows the huge whales lying within a few feet of one another along the shore after parts of the coastline were hit by 5ft waves.
Professor Peter Evans, director of the sea watch foundation, told the Mail: 'I imagine that the earthquake off Russia has caused major tremors initiating the tsunami and that all of that has had impacts on whales.'
Hawaii and mainland US
Across the Pacific, Josh Green, the governor of Hawaii, urged residents to evacuate ahead of what was expected to be 'life-threatening' tsunami waves.
'God willing, these waves will not hurt us,' Mr Green said before the waves made landfall. 'But you have to assume, assume, they will be life-threatening.'
Waves of up to 5.5ft impacted the islands before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre reduced its warning level for the state at around 9.50am BST.
Coastal residents in Hawaii had been told to get to high ground or the fourth floor or above of buildings.
Tourists were seen sprinting back to their cruise ships in Hawaii as warning sirens blared before tsunami waves hit the island.
Rachael Burrows, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, was on a tour around the Big Island when she was forced to rush back to her ship.
'We got off the tour bus and everyone was running trying to get on the cruise ship, because we needed to get out to sea,' she told BBC Breakfast.
'We were luckily some of the last ones to get on the cruise ship. Then we could see a lot of other people getting dropped off and lining up, but they didn't make it.'
Oprah Winfrey, the popular TV host who has a home on the island state, was forced to clarify that she had opened her private road in Maui to make way for residents who were evacuating after social media posts suggested otherwise.
'As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened,' her spokesman told CNN.
'Local law enforcement are currently on site helping residents through 50 cars at a time to ensure everyone's safety. The road will remain open as long as necessary.'
Tsunami waves also reached the US west coast, where waves in Crescent City, northern California, were recorded at 3.6ft.
In Port San Luis, there was a 'rapid and damaging surge, going from low to high tide in just a few minutes', with the Los Angeles weather service warning people to evacuate the area.
Less than 12 hours after the initial powerful earthquake, emergency authorities in Japan and Hawaii began to downgrade their tsunami warnings to advisories.
Mr Green, Hawaii governor, held an optimistic briefing, saying the state 'had not seen a wave of consequence'.
One tourist on the island told the BBC that 'the disaster we were expecting did not come'.
'It was super nerve-wracking waiting and waiting – you could hear a pin drop,' said Farrell Monaco in Makaha, Ohau in Hawaii.
'The disaster we were expecting did not come. They were so well prepared, they had air raid sirens and alerts.
'Everyone was on the roads and it was busy but it was all very civilised.'