A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s Far Eastern coast Wednesday triggered tsunami warnings as far away as Hawaii, Japan and Chile, with parts of French Polynesia told to prepare for waves up to 4 meters (13 feet) high.
The shallow tremor off the Kamchatka Peninsula damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard – devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 – was ordered to evacuate, as were parts of Hawaii.
By Wednesday evening, Japan and Hawaii had downgraded their tsunami warnings, but authorities in French Polynesia warned residents of several of the remote Marquesas Islands to move to higher ground and follow official instructions.
The waves were expected to hit some islands in the early morning hours.
"Our armed forces in French Polynesia are on alert as a precautionary measure, to be ready to assist our fellow citizens and state services in potential search and rescue operations or medical evacuations," French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on the social media platform X.
