A POWERFUL magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami waves of up to 5 meters (16 feet) nearby and sparked evacuation orders as far away as Hawaii and across the Pacific on Wednesday.

The shallow earthquake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan’s eastern seaboard — devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 — was ordered to evacuate.

A resident in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky said the shaking went on for several minutes.

“I decided to leave the building,” said Yaroslav, 25. “It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least 3 minutes.”

Video footage released by the region’s health ministry showed a team of medics in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky performing surgery as the tremors shook their equipment and the floor beneath them.

Tsunami waves struck parts of Kamchatka, partially flooding the port and a fish processing plant in the town of Severo-Kurilsk and sweeping vessels from their moorings, regional officials and Russia’s emergency ministry said.

Verified drone footage showed the town’s entire shoreline was submerged, with taller buildings and some storage facilities surrounded by water, which was seen pouring back into the sea.

“Today’s earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors,” Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. Russian scientists said it was the most powerful to hit the region since 1952.

In Hawaii, waves of up to 1.7 meters (5.5 feet) impacted the islands before the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reduced its warning level for the state around 0850 GMT, saying no major tsunami was expected.

Coastal residents were earlier told to get to high ground or the fourth floor or above of buildings, and the US Coast Guard ordered ships out of harbors.

Flights out of Honolulu airport resumed later, the transportation department said, while the main airport in Maui remained closed with passengers sheltering in the terminal.

Tsunami waves of nearly half a meter were observed as far as California, with smaller ones reaching Canada’s province of British Columbia.

WARNINGS ACROSS THE PACIFIC
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 kilometers (12 miles), and centered 119 kilometers (74 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000.

Tsunami alarms sounded in coastal towns across Japan’s Pacific coast and evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of people.

Workers evacuated the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster, operator TEPCO said.

Footage on public broadcaster NHK showed scores of people on the northern island of Hokkaido on the roof of a building, sheltering under tents from the sun, as fishing boats left harbors to avoid any damage from incoming waves.

Broadcaster Asahi TV reported a 58-year-old woman died when her car fell off a cliff while she was evacuating in central Japan’s Mie prefecture.

Automaker Nissan Motor suspended operations at some factories in Japan to ensure employee safety, Kyodo news agency reported.

Three tsunami waves had been recorded in Japan, the largest of 1.3 meters (4.3 feet), officials said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said no injuries or damage had been reported, and there were no irregularities at any nuclear plants.

Tsunami waves of 1 to 3 meters (3-9 feet) can be fatal for people who are swept away, said NHK.

The US Tsunami Warning System said waves of more than 3 meters were possible along some coasts of Russia, the northern Hawaiian islands and Ecuador, while waves of 1-3 meters were possible in countries including Japan, Hawaii, Chile and the Solomon Islands.

‘RING OF FIRE’
Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Services said on Telegram that a kindergarten was damaged but most buildings withstood the quake. No serious injuries or fatalities have been reported.

Several people in Kamchatka sought medical assistance following the quake, Oleg Melnikov, regional health minister, told Russia’s TASS state news agency.

In Severo-Kurilsk in the northern Kuril islands, south of Kamchatka, tsunami waves exceeded 3 meters, with the largest up to 5 meters, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.

Alexander Ovsyannikov, the town’s mayor, urged residents to assess damage to their homes and not to use gas stove heating until inspections had been carried out.

Kamchatka and Russia’s Far East sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

“However, due to certain characteristics of the epicenter, the shaking intensity was not as high… as one might expect from such a magnitude,” said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Service, on Telegram.

“Aftershocks are currently ongoing… Their intensity will remain fairly high. However, stronger tremors are not expected in the near future. The situation is under control.” — Reuters

UNITED NATIONS/LONDON — Britain said on Tuesday it would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes steps to relieve suffering in Gaza, where starvation is spreading, and reaches a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war with Hamas.

The warning, which drew a harsh Israeli rebuke, came after a hunger monitor said a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding and immediate action is needed to avoid widespread death. Palestinian authorities said more than 60,000 Palestinians were now confirmed killed by Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

The hunger alert and the new death toll are grim milestones in the current conflict that began in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, sparking an offensive that has flattened much of the enclave and ignited hostilities across the Middle East.

The alert by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised the prospect that the starvation crisis in Gaza could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let in far more food.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s warning heightens pressure on Israel amid an international outcry over its conduct of the war. France announced last week it would recognize Palestinian statehood in September, a move that enraged the Israeli government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X that Mr. Starmer’s decision “rewards Hamas’ monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims,” adding that “A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW.”

US President Donald J. Trump said he did not discuss Britain’s plans on Palestinian statehood during talks with Mr. Starmer in Scotland on Monday, when he told reporters he did “not mind” if Britain made such a move.

But on Tuesday he said aboard Air Force One that he did not think Hamas “should be rewarded” with recognition of Palestinian independence.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described Starmer’s decision as “bold,” according to Palestinian state news agency WAFA.

Mr. Starmer told his cabinet that Britain would recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution,” his government said.

The move, if carried through, would be mostly symbolic, with Israel occupying the territories where the Palestinians have long aimed to establish that state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

It makes Israel more isolated on the international stage as a growing number of countries call for it to allow unfettered aid into Gaza, where it controls all entry and exit points to the besieged coastal territory.

However, Mr. Trump’s administration — Israel’s closest and most influential ally — has made clear it has no intention of joining others in recognizing Palestinian statehood anytime soon. Since returning to office in January, Mr. Trump has been vague about whether or not he would support an eventual Palestinian state.

Mr. Starmer held separate phone calls with Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas on Tuesday before making his announcement.

EVIDENCE OF STARVATION
With the international furor over Gaza’s ordeal growing, Israel announced steps over the weekend to ease aid access. But the UN World Food Programme said on Tuesday it was not getting the permissions it needed to deliver enough aid since Israel began humanitarian pauses in warfare on Sunday.

“Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,” the IPC said, adding that “famine thresholds” have been reached for food consumption in most of Gaza.

It said it would quickly carry out the formal analysis that could allow it to classify Gaza as “in famine.”

Gaza health authorities have been reporting more and more people dying from hunger-related causes. The total stands at 147, among them 88 children, most of whom died in the last few weeks.

Images of emaciated Palestinian children have shocked the world, with Israel’s strongest ally Mr. Trump declaring that many people were starving. He promised to set up new “food centers.”

Israel has denied pursuing a policy of starvation. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that the situation in Gaza was “tough” but there were lies about starvation there.

DEADLIEST CONFLICT
The Gazan casualty figures, which are often cited by the UN and have previously been described as reliable by the World Health Organization, underline the war as the deadliest involving Israel since its establishment in 1948.

Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants killed some 1,200 people and took another 251 hostage — Israel’s deadliest ever day. Since Israel launched ground operations in Gaza in October 2023, 454 soldiers have been killed.

The new Palestinian toll does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Thousands more bodies are believed to be buried under rubble, meaning the true toll is likely to be significantly higher, Palestinian officials and rescue workers say.

Israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least 30 Palestinians in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, Gaza health authorities said. Doctors at Al-Awda Hospital said at least 14 women and 12 children were among the dead.

The hospital also said that 13 people had been killed and dozens wounded by Israeli gunfire along the Salahudeen Road as they waited for aid trucks to roll into Gaza.

Mr. Saar said 5,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza in the last two months, and that Israel would assist those wanting to conduct airdrops — a delivery method that aid groups say is ineffective and a token.

Israel and the US accuse Hamas of stealing aid — which the militants deny — and the UN of failing to prevent it. The UN says it has not seen evidence of Hamas diverting much aid. Hamas accuses Israel of causing starvation and using aid as a weapon. — Reuters