Fears of a devastating tsunami faded for the U.S. and Japan after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck off a sparsely populated Russian peninsula. New alerts along South America’s Pacific coast forced evacuations and closed beaches. Warnings in the first hours after the 8.8 magnitude quake sent residents fleeing to rooftops in Japan and forced tourists out of beachfront hotels in Hawaii, snarling island traffic. In Russia, several people were hurt while rushing out of buildings, including a hospital patient who jumped from a window. Millions of people were told to move away from the shore or seek high ground because they were potentially in the path of the tsunami waves, which struck seaside areas of Japan, Hawaii, and the U.S. West Coast but did not appear to cause any major damage. The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the worst was over, and tsunami advisories for Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington state were canceled but remained for parts of northern California.
South America has ordered tsunami evacuations, but the worst risk for the US appears to have passed following a massive earthquake. Thuy 659
