Slippers in the Streets, Panic at the Exits: Kamchatka Residents Endure Russia’s Most Powerful Earthquake

Kamchatka residents are sharing harrowing stories after one of the most powerful earthquakes in modern Russian history rocked the region, sending thousands scrambling for safety—many in pajamas and slippers—with locked emergency exits adding to the chaos. The 8.8-magnitude quake struck off Kamchatka’s coast around noon on July 30, its tremors felt as far as Japan and the Pacific.

Within minutes, a tsunami warning was issued, forcing evacuations across the Russian Far East, northern Japan, Hawaii, and the western United States.

Nightwear and Nerves

In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the regional capital, frightened locals spilled out of buildings mid-day, some in bathrobes, curlers, or a single slipper.

“People gathered outside — someone in a bathrobe, another in just one sock and slippers. We stood in the rain for four hours, sharing tea,” one resident posted on social media.

Locked Exits, Falling Ceilings

Reports quickly emerged of closed emergency exits at key sites, trapping crowds inside. In the city airport, falling ceiling panels injured at least one woman.

Patients at the regional hospital watched as panels crashed down above their beds. Elsewhere, cracks appeared in residential buildings and a kindergarten wall collapsed—though, by chance, the school was empty for summer renovations.

Tsunami Impact and Aftershocks

While no mass casualties were reported, tsunami waves up to 4 meters high battered the coastline. North Kurilsk, home to 2,500 people, saw four separate waves flood coastal streets, topple chimneys, and damage several buildings.

Fishing boats were swept into the strait, a fish processing plant was inundated, and an expedition camp was washed away on neighboring Shumshu Island.

Authorities, eager to contain public anxiety, insisted that traffic jams were due to shortened work hours, not mass panic.

Local social media told a different story, documenting long lines at gas stations as people rushed to evacuate the city for safer ground.

Global Reach

Japan’s Meteorological Agency ordered the evacuation of 1.9 million people along its northeastern coast. Tsunami waves reached up to 1.3 meters in Iwate Prefecture.

By the end of the day, Hawaii had also recorded waves up to 1.7 meters, and even California’s coast saw a modest surge.

Historic Tremors

This earthquake, the strongest in Russia since 1952, ranks among the world’s top six ever recorded.

Only the devastating Chile quake of 1960 and Japan’s 2011 disaster surpass it in recent memory.

As aftershocks rumble on, Kamchatka’s residents are left to pick up the pieces—sharing stories of resilience, confusion, and a surreal afternoon spent outdoors in slippers, united by fear, relief, and the determination to carry on.