A state of emergency has been declared on all of Russia’s Kuril Islands after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake off the Kamchatka Peninsula caused a terrible tsunami. Reports say that waves over three meters (9.8 feet) high flooded the main city of Severokurilsk, causing a lot of damage, power outages, and forcing people to leave in a hurry.
Kamchatka Peninsula Escapes Major Tsunami Damage Despite Massive Wave Potential
Russian officials say that the Kamchatka Peninsula didn’t suffer any major damage after a strong tsunami hit the area. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the peninsula’s main city, was mostly safe from the destructive waves because it was strategically located on the coast of Avacha Bay.
But experts from Russia’s Oceanology Institute have given very serious warnings, saying that tsunami waves may have reached heights of 10 to 15 meters (33 to 49 feet) in some parts of the Kamchatka coast that were not populated.
In the Kuril Islands, which were more directly affected, waves over 6 meters (19 feet) hit the city of Severo-Kurilsk. This is very different from what was confirmed.
The fact that Kamchatka has a small population is why there aren’t many reports of damage. The same is true for the Kuril Islands, which were hit hard.
Something very rare is about occur in the Pacific Ocean. In just a few hours, a tsunami will be passing right underneath a major hurricane. Can’t recall ever seeing this before. pic.twitter.com/7s7JWPsn2S
— Michael Ferragamo (@FerragamoWx) July 30, 2025
On Wednesday morning, a huge earthquake hit under the ocean. It was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded. Tsunami warnings were sent out across the Pacific, from Japan to the US coast. Severokurilsk, a fishing port in the Kurils, took the most damage. Eyewitness accounts and early reports from Russian officials describe a scene of chaos, with the port completely flooded and the power grid badly damaged.
Emergency services are working at full capacity to help people get to higher ground after the disaster. The full extent of the damage is still being looked at, but the fishing-dependent community is likely to suffer a lot economically.
The disaster happens in a time of long-standing political tension. Japan calls the Kuril Islands “the Northern Territories” and says they belong to them. Russia runs the islands. The disagreement goes back to the end of World War II, when the Soviet Union took over the islands. This problem that hasn’t been solved has kept the two countries from signing a real peace treaty.
Russia pulled out of peace talks with Japan in March 2022, citing sanctions imposed by Tokyo over the conflict in Ukraine. This move has made relations between the two countries much worse. The current natural disaster is likely to bring more attention to the strategic and disputed archipelago.
Japan’s northern coast has also seen tsunami waves from the same earthquake, but the damage seems to be less severe than in the Kurils. Warnings had been given by the Japanese Meteorological Agency, and some coastal areas have seen smaller waves.
The world is keeping a close eye on the situation. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has sent out warnings to a number of countries. This event is a clear reminder of how natural disasters can happen at any time in the seismically active “Ring of Fire.”
