The quake, tied for the sixth strongest in recorded history, struck just 75 miles from Avacha Bay, where some of the Russian Navy's most strategic nuclear assets are based

Russia said the temblor off the Kamchatka peninsula was ‘the strongest in decades’.

The Japan Weather Agency said it expected a tsunami of up to 1 metre (3.3 feet) to reach large coastal areas starting around 0100 GMT.