Powerful quake hits near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan issues a tsunami alert

TOKYO AP Japan s meteorological agency issued a tsunami alert for Japan s Pacific coast upgrading an earlier advisory stemming from the powerful magnitude quake that hit on Wednesday morning near Russia s Kamchatka Peninsula The agency issued an advisory for a tsunami of up to meter yards across the Pacific coast of Japan possibly starting to arrive along the northern Japanese coasts in less than half an hour after the alert A tsunami warning also was extended to the U S state of Hawaii with the National Weather System 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 Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property the warning stated The first waves were expected around p m local time Japan s meteorological agency stated the quake occurred at a m GMT Tuesday and registered a preliminary magnitude of The quake was about kilometers miles away from Hokkaido Japan s northernmost of the country s four big islands and was felt only slightly according to Japan s NHK television The U S Geological Survey stated it hit at a depth of kilometers miles The USGC stated shortly after initial reports that the quake s strength was magnitude Russia s Tass news agency revealed from the biggest city nearby Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky that a large number of people ran out into the street without shoes or outerwear Cabinets toppled inside homes mirrors were broken cars swayed in the street and balconies on buildings shook noticeably Tass also announced power outages and mobile phone organization failures in the capital of the Kamchatka region The National Tsunami Warning Center based in Alaska issued a tsunami warning for parts of the Alaska Aleutian Islands and a watch for portions of the West Coast including California Oregon and Washington and Hawaii The advisory also includes a vast swath of Alaska s coast line including parts of the panhandle The Japanese leadership noted it set up a taskforce for information gathering and response in situation of any urgency A University of Tokyo seismologist Shinichi Sakai described NHK that a distant earthquake could cause a tsunami that affects Japan if its epicenter is shallow Japan part of the area known as the Pacific ring of fire is one of the world s bulk quake-prone country Earlier in July five powerful quakes the largest with a magnitude of struck in the sea near Kamchatka The largest quake was at a depth of kilometers and was kilometers miles east of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky which has a population of On Nov a magnitude quake in Kamchatka caused damage but no revealed deaths despite setting off -meter -foot waves in Hawaii