AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

A major earthquake off the coast of Russia triggered widespread tsunami warnings, alerts and evacuations all across the Pacific.

It was the strongest quake on the planet since 2011 and the sixth largest ever recorded.

GEOFF BENNETT: Moderate waves hit the shores of Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.

In South America, clear across the Pacific from where the quake happened, several countries and island territories remain on alert tonight, but so far most of the damage has been minor and without serious injuries.

Stephanie Sy leads our coverage.

STEPHANIE SY: In Far Eastern Russia, one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history rattled homes and businesses.

The 8.8-magnitude quake toppled parts of buildings like the facade of this kindergarten.

And thousands of miles from the epicenter, residents of Hawaii swarmed inland as tsunami alerts went off.

Officials issued warnings to stay vigilant.

RICK BLANGIARDI, Mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii: Please, take this very seriously and don't go down to the beach.

Don't be looking at waves.

Get yourself as high as you possibly can.

STEPHANIE SY: In Japan, this aerial view of the eastern coast shows the menacing approach of the ocean.

The powerful quake struck off the East Coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering tsunami warnings in Japan, Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.

The threat reached clear across the world, with Chile today upgrading its warning to the highest level and ordering evacuations.

In Russia, video showed the tremors hitting during surgery at an area hospital, doctors and nurses bracing to hold the patient steady.

Cliffs were shaken from their foundations, cascading into the sea, which swelled with fury not long after the quake.

The waves hit Russia's coast first, sending a wall of water inland and flooding ports.

Eyewitness video captured the rushing waters carrying entire buildings away.

SIMON BOXALL, University of Southampton: It's a bit like throwing a very, very large rock into the sea and then watching the waves propagate away from that rock, that splash.

And so that's what's happened in this case and that's why this particular one has generated a tsunami.

It's not huge.

It's not one that's going to cause mass devastation, but it will cause coastal flooding, and it will cause damage.

And it does put lives at risk if people don't move to high ground.

STEPHANIE SY: In Hawaii, officials recorded some tsunami waves as high as five feet last night.

MAN: So we decided just to get out and go to higher ground.

STEPHANIE SY: Many heeded the warnings.

Cars clogged the streets of Honolulu as people fled to higher ground.

Others in hotels and high-rises headed to upper floors.

In Japan, residents took no chances, scrambling onto rooftops.

It was in Japan that an earthquake and tsunami last brought mass devastation, including a nuclear meltdown.

The 2011 disaster claimed nearly 20,000 lives.

DAVE SNIDER, National Tsunami Warning Center: I think of this more as an ocean flood.

Storm surges would be another way to think about this with a hurricane or a tropical event.

STEPHANIE SY: Scientists who specialize in earthquakes and tsunamis, like Dave Snider of the National Tsunami Warning Center, say that all precautions are warranted since the impacts of a tsunami can last for even more than a day.

DAVID SNIDER: The most important thing to understand about tsunamis, this is not a surf wave.

It's not a wind wave.

A tsunami is the entire ocean column that is being lifted up above that high tide level there because of that extreme movement of the earth's crust with the earthquake there.

So this is a significant planetary event that we have just witnessed.

STEPHANIE SY: On U.S. coastlines, tsunami warnings had been lifted or downgraded by this morning, with no major damage reported so far.

But much of the Pacific remains on alert tonight, as concern about the threat of significant aftershocks and reverberations in the sea remain.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.