Hours after a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck near the Russian coast, becoming one of the strongest tremors ever recorded, tsunami waves arrived in Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast following efforts to get hundreds of thousands away from coastlines and to higher ground.

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.

Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and surrounding Pacific Rim regions continued to experience seismic instability, with dozens of aftershocks being reported on Saturday by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).