One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck off Russia’s sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, sending tsunami waves into Japan, Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast. Several people were injured, but none gravely, and no major damage has been reported so far.

What we know

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula at around 11:30 a.m. local time.

It is the sixth-strongest earthquake in recorded history.

Tsunami waves first reached Russia's Kuril Islands and Japan's large northern island of Hokkaido, but have since begun hitting U.S. shores. Small tsunami waves have been observed in Alaska and NOAA says waves have been observed in Hawaii.

Russian authorities on the Kamchatka peninsula and Kuril islands have canceled tsunami warning, but say some risk o

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