A tsunami has hit coastal areas of Russia's Kuril Islands and Japan's large northern island of Hokkaido after a powerful magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday

Tsunami warning sirens blared Tuesday in Honolulu and people were told to move to higher ground.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a first tsunami wave of about 30 centimeters reached Nemuro on the eastern coast of Hokkaido.

The first tsunami wave hit the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, the main settlement on Russia's Kuril Islands in the Pacific, according to the local governor Valery Limarenko. He said residents were safe and staying on high ground until the threat of a repeat wave was gone.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of 1 to 3 meters above tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan and the Solomon Islands. Waves of more than 3 meters were possible along some coastal areas of Russia and Ecuador.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and was centred about 125 km (80 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000 along the coast of Avacha Bay. It revised the magnitude up from 8.0 earlier.

The Japan Weather Agency upgraded its warning, saying it expected tsunami waves of up to 3 metres (10 feet) to reach large coastal areas starting around 0100 GMT. Broadcast NHK said evacuation orders had been issued by the government for some areas.

This image taken from a video released by Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences, shows the aftermath of tsunami hitting the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk at Paramushir island of Kuril Islands, Russia, Wednesday, July 30

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System also issued a warning of "hazardous tsunami waves" within the next three hours along some coasts of Russia, Japan and Hawaii. A tsunami watch was also in effect for the U.S. island territory of Guam and other islands of Micronesia.

"Today's earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors," Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. He added that according to preliminary information there were no injuries, but a kindergarten was damaged.

A tsunami with a height of 3-4 metres (10-13 feet) was recorded in parts of Kamchatka, Sergei Lebedev, regional minister for emergency situations said, urging people to move away from the shoreline of the peninsula.

Kamchatka and Russia's Far East sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region that is prone to major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.