Tsunami waves have reached Hawaiiafter a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s eastern coast triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, affecting countries from the US to Japan.

The earthquake early on Wednesday is one of the strongest ever recorded, already leaving several people injured in Russia, according to authorities, and at least one person in Japan. Ports on the Kamchatka Peninsula, near the quake's epicenter in Russia, flooded as residents fled inland, and frothy, white waves washed up to the shore in northern Japan, while cars jammed streets and highways in Hawaii's capital.

Officials said tsunami waves as high as 6ft (1.8m) have been recorded near Hawaii, as they suggested even bigger waves could hit, warning “people can drown quite easily” in a force that “could take them out”. Evacuation orders have been issued for large parts of the US west coast, with authorities ordering people to "take action now" and get away from the sea.

A tsunami height of 3-4m (10 to 13ft) was recorded in Kamchatka, 60cm (2ft) on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, and up to 1.4ft (under 30cm) above tide levels were observed in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The US National Weather Service said it had recorded waves in the Arena Cove and Monterey area in California in the early hours of the morning, local time.

The entire west coast of the US as well as Guam, the Philippines and the Northern Mariana Islands were alerted to watch for signs of dangerous waves, and parts of Canada, Russia, Indonesia, and Japan were also under tsunami alerts.