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A tsunami watch has been issued for multiple parts of the B.C. coast after a large earthquake in the Pacific basin near Kamchatka, Russia, on Tuesday afternoon.
Emergency Info B.C. says there was a magnitude 8.7 earthquake around 135 kilometres southeast of the Russian city of Petropavlovsk around 4:25 p.m. PT on Tuesday.
A tsunami watch has been issued for B.C.’s north and central coasts, the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Juan de Fuca strait, including Greater Victoria.
Local governments in those areas have been asked to activate their emergency plans by the U.S.-based National Tsunami Warning Center.
A tsunami watch, according to EmergencyInfoBC, means that residents should move away from the ocean and stay alert for more instructions from officials.
It also asks for boat operators to move their boats out to sea to a depth of at least 180 feet (55 metres) if time and conditions permit, and avoid shallow water and inlets if they are already at sea.
Warning issued for Hawaii
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit at a depth of 19.3 kilometres.
A tsunami warning has been issued for the U.S. state of Hawaii, with the National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center saying a tsunami from the quake had been generated that could cause damage along the coastlines of all the Hawaiian islands.
Japan’s meteorological agency has issued a tsunami alert for Japan’s Pacific coast, upgrading an earlier advisory that warned of a tsunami of up to three metres across the Pacific coast of Japan.
More to come.
