A tsunami advisory was also issued for parts of Alaska and the entire West Coast after a powerful earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.

But the danger appeared to be waning in some places, with the US state of Hawaii and Japan downgrading their warnings. Authorities on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands near the quake’s epicentre also cancelled their tsunami warning on Wednesday evening after a flooded seaport town there had earlier been evacuated.

A massive 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s eastern coast early Wednesday, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific and along the U.S. West Coast.