A powerful earthquake triggered volcanic activity and tsunami alerts in Russia's Kamchatka region, highlighting ongoing seismic threats and regional instability.

The magnitude 8.8 quake is believed to be the joint sixth-largest on record, though only minor injuries near the epicenter have been reported.

A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula Tuesday triggered tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean. Russia said the shallow quake caused damage in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and elsewhere on the peninsula and flooded the Kuril Islands with waves as high as 19 feet.