A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami waves of up to 5 metres (16 feet) and sparked evacuation orders in Hawaii and across the Pacific on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

The shallow earthquake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard - devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 - was ordered to evacuate.

A resident in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky said the shaking rumbled for several minutes, according to Reuters.

"I decided to leave the building," said Yaroslav, 25. "It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least 3 minutes.”