Tsunami Sparks Evacuations in Japan After Kamchatka Tremor

On the morning of July 30, a powerful undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. It unleashed tsunami waves up to four meters high and triggering widespread tsunami alerts across Japan's Pacific coastline.

The quake, estimated at magnitude 8.7, is the most powerful recorded in the region in over 70 years. According to Russia's TASS news agency, Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov called it "the most severe and intense earthquake in decades."

Widespread Damage in Russia's Far East

The tremor caused a surge in emergency calls, widespread power outages, and significant damage to buildings, including hospitals and kindergartens. In response, the Russian government has set up an emergency command center to coordinate relief efforts and assess the full scope of the destruction.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) located the epicenter 119 kilometers southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, at a shallow depth of 20.7 kilometers. In response, the US Tsunami Warning System issued alerts for not only Russia and Japan but also as far as Alaska and Hawaii.

Footage and photos circulated by Russian media captured the scale of the disaster. In Severo-Kurilsk, a town on Paramushir Island in the Kuril chain, tsunami waves were seen inundating coastal areas. One widely shared image showed a factory being swallowed by the sea, while another depicted a kindergarten in Kamchatka damaged by the quake, footage released by the region's emergency minister.

Japan Reacts with Swift Evacuation Orders

The tremor's effects rippled across to Japan. At 9:43 AM, shrill warning sirens pierced the air in Hakodate, Hokkaido, followed by repeated emergency broadcasts urging both residents and tourists to evacuate to higher ground.

A local woman in her seventies, recalling how her uncle once crab-fished off Kamchatka, voiced her unease. "We can't let our guard down, not after what we learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake," she said.

In response to the tsunami alert, all train services at JR Hakodate Station were suspended. Police officers were seen assisting stranded travelers, guiding them to nearby shelters.

*A police officer calls on stranded tourists to evacuate. July 30, Hakodate City, Hokkaido (©Sankei by Masamichi Kirihara).*

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings spanning from Hokkaido to Wakayama Prefecture. Officials urged immediate evacuation, warning: "If you wait until you see the tsunami, it will be too late."

Its website outlines the dangers clearly:

Tsunami waves grow rapidly in height as they approach shallow coastal waters.
They travel at extremely high speeds — far faster than a person can run.
Multiple waves may strike, with later ones often larger than the first.
Even a wave just 20–30 centimeters high has enough force to sweep people away.
Coastal geography can cause localized surges in wave height.
It may take hours for the largest wave to arrive.
Tsunamis can continue to impact coastlines for over 12 hours.

A Seismic Hotspot Reawakens

This is not the first time Kamchatka has unleashed such seismic force. On November 5, 1952, a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck the region, but moment magnitude calculations (Mw) place it closer to 9.0, on par with the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. That event generated tsunami waves up to 18 meters in the Kuril Islands and reached as high as three meters along Japan's Miyagi Prefecture, inundating roughly 1,200 homes.

Kamchatka remains one of the most seismically active zones in the world. In just the past decade, the region has experienced six earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher. Notably, just ten days before the July 30 quake, a magnitude 7.5 tremor rattled the same area, underscoring its volatile status along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The reawakening of such tectonic energy serves as a sobering reminder of the Pacific nations' shared vulnerability. As Japan's tsunami alert systems sprang into action once again, the memory of 2011 hung heavy in the air, proof that even across decades and oceans, the same fault lines continue to shape the fate of those who live near them.

(Read related article in Japanese.)

Author: The Sankei Shimbun