Pacific Warning Center Downgrades Hawaii Tsunami Alert to Advisory, Tsunami Waves Of 1.6 ft Above Tide Level Observed In California

30th July 2025 at 3:20 PM

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The tsunami alert level for Hawaii -- issued after the magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s eastern coast -- has been downgraded to an advisory, authorities said Wednesday.

Hawaii : The tsunami alert level for Hawaii — issued after the magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s eastern coast — has been downgraded to an advisory, authorities said Wednesday. Pacific Tsunami warning center reduced the alert level for Hawaii to a tsunami advisory, the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said on X.

Unusually strong currents and waves still possible close to the shore and in harbors. Officials are assessing damage but have NOT reopened coastal evacuation areas. Stay clear of these areas, it said. The U.S., Japan, China and Philippines are bracing for tsunamis after 8.8 magnitude earthquake – one of the strongest ever recorded – struck in the Pacific Ocean off Russia’s far east coast.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Tsunami Warning Center (TWC) maps show Hawaii and and a portion of Northern California are currently under a rare tsunami warning—the highest level of alert—while the remainder of the U.S. West Coast is under a less severe tsunami advisory. A previous warning for parts of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has been downgraded to an advisory.

Similar warnings have been put in place by equivalent weather bodies in Russia, Japan and other East Asian countries. The TWC have said tsunami waves have already hit Alaska, with waves beginning to reach Hawaii now. Along the west coast, in Oregon and Washington waves were expected to begin round 11:35p.m. PT. In California, waves were expected to arrive shortly after 11:50 p.m. PT, reaching San Francisco Bay around 12:40 a.m. PT and Los Angeles Harbor by 1:00 a.m. PT.

The tsunami warning covers all eight of Hawaii’s islands. Residents and visitors in coastal areas have been told to take action immediately by getting to higher ground if in a coastal area. The National Weather Service (NWS) reports that all coastal areas are at risk as tsunami waves can “efficiently wrap around islands so all shores” even if they do not face the direction of the earthquake.