View of Japan's Hokkaido coastline after tsunami warning, evacuation alert

The world’s biggest earthquake in 14 years has sparked tsunami warnings for millions in Japan, Russia, the entire west coast of America and the Pacific islands. The quake reached a magnitude of 8.8 and struck off east-southeast of Kamchatska off the coast of Russia, about 9.24pm (AEST). It is the largest earthquake to hit since 2011, when a 9.1 megaquake hit northeast Japan and left 19,747 people either dead or missing — and it is the strongest in the region since 1952.