8.8 magnitude earthquake strikes North Pacific with tsunami warnings in Hawaii, Alaska, California and Japan

An 8.8 magnitude earthquake that experts said could be the sixth largest on record struck in the North Pacific off Russia early Wednesday, prompting tsunami warnings and evacuations in.

The warnings left millions anxiously awaiting waves that forecasters said could approach 3m in places.

In Hawaii, where the first tsunami waves arrived at about 7:30pm on Tuesday evening local time, mountain roads were choked with traffic as residents sought higher ground and flights at major airports were canceled.

In Japan, workers fled low-lying parts of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was wrecked by a tsunami in 2011. Near the quake’s epicenter in Russia, cliffs collapsed into the sea, sending plumes of dust into the sky. Buildings violently shook and coastal areas were swamped.

The earthquake, whose epicenter was about 78 miles east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, struck early Wednesday local time, according to the US Geological Survey. The resulting waves were expected to cross vast stretches of the Pacific, triggering alerts across most of the West Coast of the United States and as far away as South America.

Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, declared an emergency, urging residents to “please take this situation seriously.” He said the wavecould drown people, threaten the electric grid, move cars, throw fences around, damage houses and dislodge trees. He said homes might also lose power or water pressure.

In parts of California, the authorities closed some beaches, docks and harbors, warning of strong and dangerous currents. Forecasters issued a warning for one region near the state line with Oregon where they said waves could reach up to 1.5m. That stretch of coastline has had frequent experiences with tsunamis over the last century. It includes Crescent City, which has been hit by 32 tsunamis since 1933.

Tsunamis can travel more than 500 miles per hour in deep water, crossing an ocean in less than a day. People closer to a tsunami-generating quake have less time to prepare, but others could have hours to evacuate