A massive earthquake was centered off the Kamchatka Peninsula in the North Pacific Ocean at 23:24:40 UTC time (roughly 7:25 p.m. EDT). Its exact location was roughly 75 miles east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia and its coordinates were 52.2 North and 160.0 East. This quake was an incredibly strong 8.7 on the Richter scale, which ties it with a 1906 earthquake in Ecuador and a 2010 earthquake in Chile as the 6th strongest earthquake in recorded history.

As can be expected with how strong this earthquake was and being centered under the ocean, tsunamis are a concern and correspondingly tsunami warnings have been issued. The Aleutian Islands in Alaska are currently in a Tsunami Warning and the entire Pacific Coast from the British Columbia/Alaska border to the California/Mexico border is in a Tsunami Advisory. The Hawaiian Islands are also in a Tsunami Warning.

Internationally, portions of Russia, Japan, the Philippines, Papa New Guinea, Australia and Taiwan have various local tsunami warnings in place.

A tsunami is a series of powerful ocean waves that can travel thousands of miles from where it is formed. Tsunamis can cause incredible amounts of damage because of how powerful moving water is. They can cause large sea level fluctuations and strong ocean currents that can damage structures along the coastline. Strange behaviors of bodies of water, like bays and harbor draining of water and rivers reversing their flow or strengthening their currents can be observed.

If you are under one of these advisories, be sure to stay out of the water and away from beaches and waterways, including harbors and marinas. Moving to higher ground is also advised. Continue to remain away from shorelines until local officials give the all clear to safely return.