‘This is going to be a very catastrophic event for the US, for sure.’

Mystery is mounting over the state of one of Russia’s most strategically significant military sites after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in the ‘Ring of Fire’.

The Rybachiy nuclear submarine base – home to Vladimir Putin’s deadliest military vessels – is located 75 miles from the epicentre of the strongest seismic event in the Far East since 1952.

This proximity – and the secrecy around it – has raised immediate global concerns.

The site is the backbone of his Pacific Fleet, hosting the ‘Alexander Nevsky’ and ‘Vladimir Monomakh’ submarines, each armed with 16 Bulava missiles, and the nuclear-powered K-44 Ryazan submarine.

No other base in eastern Russia is believed to have equivalent capabilities, so its state is closely guarded by the Kremlin.

If the earthquake or resulting tsunami caused any structural damage to the facility – especially to nuclear reactors – the consequences could be severe.

In a worst-case scenario, a failure at Rybachiy could lead to uncontrolled radiation leaks, accidental missile launches, or total loss of containment over nuclear assets.

Beyond environmental risks, even the perception of instability at a strategic nuclear site could heighten geopolitical tensions.

Any disruption to the base’s command systems or security protocols may be seen by other nations as a potential vulnerability, prompting increased military alert levels.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has so far not issued a public statement about the operational status of Rybachiy or any submarines.

Authorities in the Kamchatka Peninsula have generally downplayed the impact from the earthquake and ensuing tsunami waves that reached as high as 13 feet.

So far there have been no reports of fatalities or serious injuries, and the threat to a tsunami has been removed.

As many as 50 aftershocks followed the initial earthquake, with Russian seismologists warning that tremors could persist for at least a month, with renewed tsunami threats not ruled out.

It comes as a 4.8-magnitude earthquake was detected 86 miles south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky early this morning.

Footage circulating on Telegram shows floods of water hitting Kamchatka, sweeping away buildings and damaging port infrastructure.

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Tsunami’s are caused by large scale disturbances on the seafloor.

Multiple travel alerts have been issued to British citizens after Russia’s Far East was rattled by an 8.8-magnitude earthquake, resulting in tsunami waves as high as 13 feet.

Travellers in a dozen countries – the US, Canada, Philippines, Taiwan, China, Tonga, Togo, New Zealand, Ecuador, Solomon Islands, Peru, Samoa, Japan, Kiribati, Costa Rica, French Polynesia and Chile – have been urged to follow ‘local advice’ as evacuations are ongoing.

Follow the latest updates on the earthquake on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula with Metro’s live blog

In Japan alone, nearly two million people have been rushed to safety from coastal areas in the north, with the meteorological agency confirming that sections of the east coast of Hokkaido and main island Honshu had seen waves of up to one metre in height.

Part of Shinkansen bullet train service has also been temporarily axed dueto the warnings.

What is the UK Foreign Office advice?

The UK Foreign Office said: ‘An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.7 has struck the eastern coast of Russia in the Kamchatka Peninsula region. A tsunami threat message has been issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

‘If you are in the affected areas potentially affected by the earthquake or tsunami you should follow the advice of the local authorities.’

But the FCDO has stopped short of actually warning against travel to any of the affected regions following the earthquake – apart from Russia, but the country has been on Britain’s ‘no-go’ list since the early days of the war in Ukraine.

The advice was released in the early hours of the mornings, and so far the government has not updated it.

So no areas in Japan, the US or Hawaii, for example, were deemed ‘unsafe’ because of the tsunami – but people have still been urged not to travel.

Are there any disruptions to flights?

In the hours after the earthquake – and the multiple tremors that followed – hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from coastal areas, with some of them trying to make a run for airports.

While some tsunami warnings have been downgraded and alerts dropped, as many as hundreds of flights have been cancelled.

Guangzhou Baiyun, Shanghai Pudong and Shenzhen Bao’an International Airports in China, Sendai Airport in Japan,Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Indonesia and the Las Vegas Airport in the US have all been graded five – the maximum in FlightRadar’s disruption index, indicating major problems.

Pictures showed dozens of travellers waiting for updates after their flights were cancelled.

All flights out of Maui Airport were also stopped for the night, with more than 200 people left sheltering at the departure lounge.

Is the ‘worst’ over?

So far, the impact of the tsunami has not been as destructive as expected.

Chip McCreery, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Director, stressed the ‘worst part of it’ is over.

Yet, South American nations like Chile and Colombia are bracing for the threat.

Chile has upgraded its tsunami warning to the highest level, covering most of its lengthy Pacific coast.

The country’s national emergency service said it was evacuating hundreds of people and school was cancelled along much of the coast.

Similarly, Colombia has issued tsunami alerts and warnings for the areas of Choco and Narino, and for Cauca and Valle del Cauca respectively.

The country’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said: ‘Preemptive evacuation of beaches and low-tide areas on the coasts of Narino and Choco is recommended. 

‘Go to high ground and away from the coast.’

Meanwhile, the Washington branch of the US National Weather Service said coastal areas west of Seattle were still seeing severe waves.

It asked people not to travel to the shores to watch the waves, and instead ‘keep away.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has seen powerful seismic activity throughout its history (Picture: Earthly)

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in history – which struck Russia’s Far East today – appears to…

A map shows where the warning and other alerts for tsunami are in the Pacific (Picture: Metro)

A map shows the epicentre of one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, along with large parts of the Pacific Ocean now under tsunami w…

The 8.8 magnitude tremor erupted in the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east early this morning.

The earthquake was 89 miles east of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000 (Picture: Getty)

A tsunami warning has been issued for parts of Russia after a series of earthquakes this morning.

Two powerful tr…

‘This is going to be a very catastrophic event for the US, for sure.’