8.8 magnitude earthquake near Russia prompts tsunami alerts in Alaska, Hawaii, and West Coast

A massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Russia on July 29, immediately setting off tsunami warnings in Alaska and Hawaii and alerts for other areas of the West Coast.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred about 85 miles off the east coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula with a depth of nearly 12 miles. Initially reported as an 8.0, the USGS later upgraded the earthquake's reported magnitude from to 8.8. Multiple powerful aftershocks continued throughout the day, according to USGS.

The National Weather Service (NWS) had initially issued a tsunami warning for Alaska's Aleutian Islands, including Adak, Attu, St. Paul, and St. George, and all of the islands of Hawaii, which directed residents away from beaches and to seek higher ground.

Fears of tsunamis passed for the U.S. as warnings and watches were was canceled for the coastal areas of Alaska from the British Columbia/Alaska Border to Chignik Bay, as well as pacific coastal regions outside California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Hawaii.

The earthquake comes just weeks after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of the Aleutian Islands, near the community of Sand Point, which had also triggered tsunami warnings.

The powerful earthquake is said to be the strongest in recorded history, and most powerful one since the March 2011 earthquake off the northeast Japan, which measured 9.0 magnitude. That earthquake also caused a massive tsunami that leveled several villages and led to a meltdown at a Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Alaska is not immune to devastating earthquakes and tsunamis, as Southcentral Alaska was hit with a magnitude 9.2 earthquake in 1964. Known as the Great Alaska Earthquake or Good Friday earthquake, the megathrust earthquake struck on March 27, 1964, the earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused widespread destruction and significant loss of life. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America and the second largest ever recorded worldwide.