Tsunami triggered by massive 8.8 quake hits Russia, Japan, Hawaii and Alaska; Pacific coast on alert
People were advised to move to higher ground around much of the Pacific coast and warned that the potential tsunami danger may last for more than a day. Most places where tsunami waves have already washed ashore have reported no significant damage so far.
A tsunami 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) high reached a port in Japan's northern Iwate prefecture at 1:52 pm (0452 GMT), Japan's weather agency said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) kept its tsunami alerts that waves of up to three metres (9.8 feet) were expected along Japan's Pacific coast, after a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
But higher waves were still arriving, said Shiji Kiyomoto, an earthquake and tsunami response official at JMA.
A tsunami of 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) was detected at the Ishinomaki port in northern Japan, according to JMA. White waves washed up to the shoreline on Japan's Hokkaido in the north and Ibaraki and Chiba, just northeast of Tokyo, in footage aired on Japan's NHK public television.
Tsunami waves over five feet were reported in Kahului, on the north-central coast of Maui, while four-foot waves struck Haleiwa on Oahu's north shore, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Waves less than a foot (under 30 centimeters) above tide levels were observed in the Alaskan communities of Amchitka and Adak, said Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska.
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