New Zealand braces for strong currents as tsunami waves barrel across Pacific after Russia’s Kamchatka earthquake

A massive earthquake of 8.8 magnitude in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday (July 30, 2025) triggered a warning in coastal regions of New Zealand. According to New Zealand media, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has issued a warning of strong and unusual currents along all coastal areas of the country.

According to the agency, the first tsunami-affected waves were expected around midnight, near Lottin Point. It is a coastal region on the East Cape of New Zealand, known for fishing and diving. "The first tsunami activity may not be the most significant," NEMA said.

As part of the advice issued, those in the water and nearby areas are asked to get out and stay away. "People on boats, liveaboards, and at marinas should leave their boats/vessels and move onto shore. Do not return to boats unless instructed by officials," NEMA said, according to news website Stuff. The unpredictable surges were expected to continue for several hours, and the threat was real until the advisory was cancelled, the agency said.


A tsunami has hit coastal areas of Russia’s Kuril Islands and Japan’s large northern island of Hokkaido following the powerful earthquake in Russia. Warnings are also in place for Alaska, Hawaii, and other coasts south toward New Zealand.

Emergency mobile alert sent

An emergency alert was sent to people across New Zealand. "Strong currents and surges can injure and drown people. There is a danger to swimmers, surfers, people fishing, and anyone in or near the water close to the shore. People on boats, liveaboards, and at marinas should leave their boats/vessels and move onto shore. Do not return to boats unless instructed by officials," the alert said, as quoted by the New Zealand Herald.

"If you are onshore, you do not need to evacuate. But stay away from the water," the alert read. The warning was for all coastal areas of the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands.

Kamchatka Earthquake: Alerts sounded in multiple places

The earthquake that struck Russia’s Kamchatka was the sixth-largest on record. It prompted tsunami warnings in Hawaii, Alaska, California, and Japan, leaving millions across the Pacific anxiously awaiting waves that forecasters said could reach up to 10 feet.

The earthquake, about 78 miles east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, took place at 7:24 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Several warnings, as well as advisories and watches, were issued along the entire West Coast of the continental United States. It reverberated across vast stretches of the Pacific, triggering alerts from Alaska to parts of Asia and as far as South America.

As far as Alaska is concerned, the warnings were concentrated along a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. Just before 11:30 p.m. Eastern time, forecasters issued a warning for a region in California near the state line with Oregon, where they said waves could reach up to 5 feet. That stretch of coastline has had frequent experiences with tsunamis over the past century. Crescent City, about 20 miles south of the Oregon border, has been hit by 32 tsunamis since 1933.

The Russian authorities raised tsunami warnings for two of the Kuril Islands, Paramushir and Shumshu, and the Kamchatka region. The first small wave was estimated to have hit the Kurils around noon local time, authorities in the Sakhalin region said on Telegram.

Warning in Japan

Authorities in Japan said waves along the country's Pacific coast could reach 3 meters, or 10 feet. A ferry linking the main Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido was suspended, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported. The impact of the quake swept vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean, prompting advisories as far away as Chile, where the U.S. Tsunami Warning System warned that waves could be nearly 10 feet high.