Tsunami waves MAPPED: Japan, US, China prepare to be hit after 8.8 earthquake off Russia

Tsunami warnings and alerts have been issued to the entire Pacific region following a huge 8.8 magnitude earthquake on the east coast of Russia. Warnings and alerts are in place across Japan, the West coast of the US, Hawaii, Alaska and the Philippines.

According to the US government Tsunami warning service, a warning is in place for Hawaii which is directly in line from the epicentre of the earthquake in east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. In Hawaii, residents have been desperately trying to evacuate after being instructed to move to higher ground. A wave of 4ft (1.2m) has already hit the coast of Oahu, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

Twelve minutes were recorded between each wave, as Josh Green, the governor of Hawaii, said the island was yet to see a “wave of consequence”. On the West Coast of the US at the Oregon-California Border, Cape Mendocino is also under a red warning.

Dozens of other regions are under a purple 'threat' level, including parts of East Asia such as Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, which could be hit by waves between one and three metres, according to the map.

All Pacific Islands, including Fiji, Samoa, Tuvulu, and French Polynesia, are also at risk of waves up to three metres. The west coast of South America, including Peru, Chile, and Colombia, is under threat of waves between one and three metres.

Ecuador could be hit by tsunami waves larger than three metres, while in Central America, all countries including Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Guatemala are at risk of waves between 0.3 and three metres.

The west coast of the United States has also been put under advisory alerts by the tsunami warning system in the US.

There have already been waves of up to four metres in the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and Tsunamis have already struck Japan’s large northern island of Hokkaido.

Meteorologists have warned that the earthquake was extremely shallow at just 13 miles deep in the ocean, which has led to such widespread warnings.