A volcano in Russia's far east erupted on Wednesday, Russian scientists said, hours after a major quake prompted evacuations and tsunami alerts across parts of the Pacific coast.

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.

The shallow tremor off the Kamchatka Peninsula 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, as were parts of Hawaii.