A tsunami wave of 1.52 metres has been recorded in Hawaii following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake near Russia which has created a Pacific-wide tsunami risk to many nations, including New Zealand.

• NZ Civil Defence has issued a Tsunami ADVISORY – which is one step below a “Warning” (see graphic below for more details). This ultimately makes this a coastal/beach and marine event – rather than a “land” event.
  
• 10:14pm NZST: CNN reports that authorities in French Polynesia have revised their tsunami alert for the Marquesas Islands, saying waves of up to 4 meters could reach the islands of Ua Huka, Nuku Hiva & Hiva Oa overnight. A previous alert said waves of up to 2.2m could affect the islands.
  
• 7pm NZST: A tsunami wave of 1.52 metres has been recorded at Kahului, on the north-central shore of Maui, Hawaii. There has been no reported damage.
  
• 7pm NZST: 1.31m wave in north-east Japan recorded this evening.
  
• Over deep ocean, tsunami waves travel at several hundred kilometres an hour – similar to a commercial passenger jet.
  
• Hawaii is an important location tonight when it comes to seeing if the tsunami modelling forecasts produced earlier today by US scientists have been accurate – which then helps other nations further away, such as New Zealand, understand if the current NZ Tsunami Advisory is on target or needs updating/revising.
  
• So far NZ is only expected to have minimal tsunami impact – but enough to warrant an advisory warning of more dangerous conditions around NZ’s beaches and in the water on Thursday.
  
• For New Zealand the current assessment is that this means waves of 0.3 to 1 metre above normal are possible from 11:59pm tonight (with first area exposed being the East Cape region of the North Island).
  
• All coastal parts of New Zealand are affected and this risk will likely go across Thursday.
  
• Sometimes tsunami waves aren’t overly visible and can create strong and unusual currents, tides and surges of stronger wave activity.
  
• This earthquake is the world’s strongest in over 14 years, since the deadly M9.1 Japan quake and tsunami making it tied for the 6th strongest earthquake ever recorded.
  
• Today a tsunami has already damaged buildings in eastern coastal Russia.
  
• View the Civil Defence Advisory and Map here.
  
• View NZ’s Tsunami Gauges here (via GeoNet)
  
• View realtime Buoy Gauges tonight here (via SeaScope Aotearoa)
  

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As of 8pm Wednesday, New Zealand had a TSUNAMI ADVISORY in place (last updated 4:11pm) – this graphic explains the difference between an “Advisory” and a “Warning”:

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🌊Pacific Tsunami update (7pm Wed NZST).

🇺🇸1.52m tsunami recorded in Maui, Hawaii. “So far we have not seen a wave of consequence, which is a great relief to us,” – Hawaii Gov.
🗾1.31m wave in north-east Japan now recorded. Japan Meteorological Agency says the waves are growing.

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) July 30, 2025

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• WeatherWatch.co.nz