A powerful earthquake off Russia’s east coast triggered tsunami waves across the Pacific, prompting alerts in Hawaii and California.

Tsunami alerts were issued for Alaska and Hawaii on Tuesday after a major, 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia, according to officials.

Damage and evacuations were reported in the Russian regions nearest the quake's epicentre on the Kamchatka Peninsula. One of the three waves damaged port infrastructure and pulled several moored ships out into the straits, TASS news agency reported.