An 8.8 magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest ever recorded, has hit off the far east of Russia, causing a tsunami – with warnings issued for Japan, China, the Philippines and parts of the US, including Hawaii, California and Alaska.

The first waves triggered by a massive 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s coast have reached the shores of US states Hawaii and California – here’s what we know so far

The earthquake, which hit near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula at about 11:25am local time (00:25am BST) on Wednesday, is one of the most powerful ever recorded

Russian authorities have evacuated the town of Severo-Kurilsk, where they say 4m (13ft) waves flooded the port and a fish processing facility

Japan has downgraded the tsunami threat level in some areas after earlier telling 1.9 million people to evacuate, while evacuation orders are still in force in countries as far apart as Colombia and New Zealand

A British cruise passenger touring Hawaii’s Big Island tells the BBC that “everyone was just running” back to the vessel as sirens began sounding