An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s eastern coast on late Wednesday morning, local time. The quake triggered tsunami waves across the Pacific that hit Russia, Japan, Canada and parts of the US coast.

Drone footage shows the aftermath of the waves after they hit Severo-Kurilsk, a Russian town in the country's Kamchatka Peninsula, north of Japan. Tsunami waves also reached Hawaii, where an evacuation order was lifted after a tsunami warning was downgraded to an advisory, and in Alaska, Washington, California, and the West Coast overnight.

Russia’s magnitude 8.8 earthquake spawned serious tsunami warnings, but waves have been moderate so far. Here’s the geological reason why