On September 18, 2025, British media suddenly revealed something. Near the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka region off the east coast of Russia, a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.8 occurred at 2:58 pm local time on Thursday.
This magnitude is no joke. As soon as it came out, tsunami warnings were sounded in Alaska, Hawaii and Russia, and the lives of millions of people were suddenly disturbed.
When I saw the news, I thought, why did this place suddenly shake so hard? Later, after checking, I found out that the geological reasons behind it are much more complicated than it seems on the surface.
The United States and Russia have raised alarms, and the risk difference in different places is quite large
To be honest, such a level of earthquake, the subsequent movement is not small.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tsunami warning system quickly reacted, saying the dangerous wave caused by the earthquake was heading toward Hawaii, while Alaska's closest to the earthquake's Alicante islands directly issued two tsunami warnings.
The range of alert was also small, ranging from Atou Island to the Amchitaka Strait, 125 miles west of Alaska’s Adak.
After receiving the notice, local people have to avoid beaches, ports and low-lying coastal areas, and keep an eye on the latest news when the waves arrive at night.
I think this reminder is crucial, after all, the tsunami can not be seen and touched, until it is too late to find out that it is wrong and run.
Looking back to Hawaii, the situation is slightly better, it is expected to arrive a tsunami of 1 to 3 feet in the evening on Thursday, the earliest is 8:51 AM in the eastern U.S. time, currently only a warning level early warning, meaning there may be waves or strong streams, not much will be a large area of flooding.
On the other side of Russia, it was not so easy, and residents near the earthquake were highly alert.
Early warnings said there could be waves of 3 to 10 feet high, which would probably cause flooding or damage to the coast if they hit the low-water area.
When comparing the situation on the west coast of the United States, it was later discovered that no alarm was issued, and San Francisco was about 4,300 miles away from the earthquake, not even expected to be affected by earthquake waves.
Looking at this, the disaster is still quite "choose place", the same earthquake, the risk of different regions can be so much less.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also monitored dozens of quakes ranging from 4.8 to 5.6.
To be honest, Although there is no master shock, but also be careful, if there is a big point again, the nerve that has just relaxed must be strained.
I thought this earthquake was an isolated event, and then overturned the record to find that the Canchaca Peninsula was not vacant this summer.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 just occurred on September 13th, and earlier on July 29th, there was a devastating earthquake of magnitude 8.8.
The USGS said that this 7.8-magnitude earthquake was actually the largest aftershock of the powerful earthquake on July 29.
In July, it was even worse. People in Japan, Hawaii and the west coast of the United States received tsunami warnings, affecting millions of people, and temporarily evacuating residents in some places.
At that time, I thought, how much psychological pressure the local residents have when a place has been hit by so many strong earthquakes in a short period of time? Maybe they have to wonder if there will be another earthquake when they sleep at night.
Why is the earthquake so severe, possibly involving volcanoes?
People who don't know it may think that an earthquake is just a shaking of the ground, but there are many doorways behind it.
The USGS says the earthquake was triggered by the retrograde movement, simply by the two giant plates of the Earth's crust pressing together.
Here in the Kilimanjaro-Cancaguan Pondal Belt, the Pacific plate is “drilling” underneath the North American plate at a rate of about 3 inches per year.
This movement saves enough energy, and one release is a shock.
Moreover, there have been dozens of earthquakes of magnitude above 4.6 in the region since the small earthquake.
Even more worrying, the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in July also triggered a strong eruption of the Klyutchev volcano.
That volcano is no ordinary volcano. It is located 280 miles north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka and is one of the tallest volcanoes in the world.
The 7.8-grade earthquake ended, and scientists began to be alert again, fearing the volcano would erupt again.
To be honest, earthquakes and volcanoes, if this combination is really coming, the local disaster prevention pressure can be greater.
Someone may ask, In fact, there are sudden disturbances on the ocean floor or nearby, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, triggered by a series of large waves.
This wave can cross the entire ocean, and a hit on the shore of Shanghai can easily cause flooding and destruction.
Unlike ordinary waves, the tsunami is long and powerful, sometimes up to 10 feet or even higher, like the wave threat facing Russia.
NOAA's tsunami warning system is also quite interesting. It relies on submarine seismographs and sea level monitoring stations to monitor crustal movements and wave changes in real time, and then issues different levels of warnings to different places through data modeling and analysis.
Without this system, many places might not even have time to prepare.
Obviously, in geologically active areas, this early warning system is a “rescuing sign” that can’t be done without it.
So it appears that this magnitude 7.8 earthquake was not a coincidence, it was the result of the Chili-Canada Pine Belt Movement, and it was also directly related to the July earthquake.
Although the west coast of the United States is not affected at the moment, parts of Alaska, Hawaii and Russia still have to tighten the strain.
To be honest, in the face of this force of nature, what we can do is to warn and prepare in advance.
If ordinary people are in geologically active areas, receive alert notifications do not hesitate, hurry away from the dangerous area, pay more attention to the official news.
Countries must also strengthen cooperation. After all, disasters do not know national boundaries. Only by monitoring and responding together can losses be minimized.
And scientists have to keep an eye on the situation of the Klyuchev volcano and the residual earthquake, if there are new movements, and also to inform in time.
Generally speaking, in the face of disasters, it is always right to be cautious. After all, safety comes first.