Authorities in Russia’s Sakhalin region declared a state of emergency in the northern Kuril Islands, where tsunami waves have damaged buildings and caused flooding, and the mayor of the islands said that “everyone” there had evacuated to safety.

“It’s good that we packed a suitcase, there was one with water and clothes near the door. We quickly grabbed it and ran out… It was very scary,” she said.

Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none of them seriously.

A video posted on Russian social media appeared to show buildings in the town submerged in seawater. Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated.

Russian authorities said a tsunami hit and flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, while local media said a wave of between three and four meters high was recorded in the Elizovsky district of Kamchatka.

The magnitude 8.8 quake struck at 8:24 a.m. (23:04 GMT Tuesday) off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s remote Kamchatka peninsula and was one of the 10 biggest recorded, according to the USGS.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunamis of up to four meters (12 feet) across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.

Officials from countries with a Pacific coastline in North and South America — including the United States, Mexico and Ecuador — issued warnings to avoid affected beaches.

In Japan, people evacuated by car or on foot to higher ground — including in Hokkaido, where a first wave measuring 30 centimeters was observed.

There were no injuries or damage reported in Japan as of midday (03:00 GMT).

In Hawaii, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said residents and the thousands of visitors should get to safety on upper floors of buildings or on higher ground.

“People should not, and I will say it one more time, should not, as we have seen in the past, stay around the shoreline or risk their lives just to see what a tsunami looks like,” governor Josh Green said.

“It is not a regular wave. It will actually kill you if you get hit by a tsunami,” Green said.

Pacific warnings

Wednesday’s quake was the strongest since 1952 in the Kamchatka region, the regional seismic monitoring service said, warnings of aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude.

The epicenter of the earthquake is roughly the same as the massive 9.0 temblor that year which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the USGS.

At least six aftershocks have further rattled the region, including one of 6.9 magnitude and another listed at 6.3.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning Centers said waves exceeding three meters above the tide level were possible along some coasts of Ecuador, northwestern Hawaiian islands and Russia.

Between one- and three-meter waves were possible along some coasts of Chile, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Japan and other islands and island groups in the Pacific, it said.

Waves of up to one metre were possible elsewhere, including Australia, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Tonga and Taiwan.