Tsunami alerts, advisories and warnings were issued across the Pacific on Tuesday night after a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Russia.
The tsunami waves have reached a few areas of the U.S., as well as Japan and Russia’s Kuril Islands. Tuesday’s earthquake ranks among the six strongest ever recorded, per The Washington Post.
As the news of the tsunami threats spread and the waves began hitting land, many people have taken to the internet to share videos, educate people on what is going on and even use humor to cope with the situation.
Where the tsunami waves hit
While waves did reach Hawaii, including the Big Island, and there were some reports of flooding, there were no reports of widespread damage.
“So far, we have not seen a wave of consequence, which is of great relief to us,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told reporters, per The Washington Post.
According to CNN, waves have also reached California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, but again no major damage has been reported.
In Russia and Japan, where the first waves hit, nearly 2 million people were evacuated.
No deaths have been reported so far from the tsunami waves across the Pacific, per NBC News.
On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social about the massive earthquake and the tsunami that followed.
“Due to a massive earthquake that occurred in the Pacific Ocean, a Tsunami Warning is in effect for those living in Hawaii. A Tsunami Watch is in effect for Alaska and the Pacific Coast of the United States. Japan is also in the way. Please visit tsunami.gov/ for the latest information. STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!" he wrote.
What people are sharing online about the tsunami
Matthew Cappucci, a meteorologist, posted on X explaining how the earthquake occurred and how it caused tsunami waves to spread across the Pacific.
Ed Krassenstein, an American entrepreneur and social media personality, is currently visiting Japan and shared on X his journey of being evacuated due to the tsunami waves.
Videos of the tsunami across the Pacific
In Japan, it has been reported that multiple whales were washed up on shore by the tsunami waves on Wednesday morning, per Newsweek.
One user on X shared a video of four whales who have washed up on shore.
A local business in Haleiwa, Hawaii, Blue Planet Adventure Company, shared a time-lapse video of the water surges due to the tsunami.
Another user on X shared a time-lapse video of ocean water off the coast of Hawaii retreating ahead of the tsunami’s arrival.
Tsunami-related humor on the internet
One thing that commonly happens during natural disasters is people sharing humorous posts about the situation. While sometimes these types of posts can be insensitive, sometimes they are just fun and do help lighten the mood.
One person on X shared that people had been searching “was there a tsunami near Fargo, ND” and tagged the National Weather Service in their post. For those of you who don’t know, North Dakota is a very landlocked state.
The NWS Grand Forks account responded to the post, confirming that “there is no threat for tsunami impacts in North Dakota.”
Another user on X posted a photo of what appears to be a giant pineapple-shaped trailer being pulled by a truck with the caption “hawaii tsunami so bad they got spongebob evacuating.”