Earthquake off eastern Russia, tsunami waves possible for some, no threat to NZ

A large, shallow earthquake has struck off the coast of Russia, with “hazardous tsunami waves” possible for coastal areas within 1000km of the epicentre, the US Geological Survey says.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.8 and at a depth of 10km deep, occurred off the east coast of Kamchatka around 7am (NZT).

A spokeswoman for the National Emergency Management Agency said the quake had been assessed by both Earth Sciences NZ and the National Emergency Management Agency.

Any potential tsunami from the quake posed no risk to New Zealand, she said.

Tsunami waves reaching 1 to 3 metres above the tide level were possible along some Russian coastlines, according to the NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

It was still too early to determine whether there was a threat to Hawaii, they said.

#Earthquake (#землетрясение) possibly felt 2 min 11 sec ago in #RussianFederation. Felt it? Tell us via:
📱https://t.co/QMSpuj6Z2H
🌐https://t.co/AXvOM7I4Th
🖥https://t.co/wPtMW5ND1t
⚠ Automatic crowdsourced detection, not seismically verified yet. More info soon! pic.twitter.com/Ld2fl004Tm

— EMSC (@LastQuake) September 18, 2025

The earthquake is in the same area as where a massive 8.8 quake occurred on July 30, sparking tsunami warnings across multiple countries, including New Zealand, Russia, the US, Japan and Chile.

In New Zealand that threat was of strong currents and surges, with people told to stay away from the water for several hours.