One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's Far East early Wednesday, sending tsunami waves into Hawaii, the U.S. West Coast and Japan. Several people were injured, none gravely, and no major damage has been reported so far.

The 8.8 magnitude temblor struck off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, an isolated strip along the Pacific Ocean, overnight. Residents of the peninsula fled inland as 16-foot waves caused flooding.

Immediately after the earthquake, Hawaii issued a tsunami warning and evacuation orders, but by Wednesday morning, the warning was downgraded to an advisory and evacuation orders were lifted on the Big Island and Oahu. Japan's Meteorological Agency also lowered its alerts to advisories.

States on the U.S. West Coast were placed under a tsunami advisory that remained in effect until Wednesday morning. Many of the warnings in California had been lifted by Wednesday afternoon, with just an area near the California-Oregon border and Ripped Point, in the southern part of the state, under an advisory.