A tsunami has hit coastal areas of Russia's Kuril Islands and Japan's large northern island of Hokkaido after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake early Wednesday.

Tsunami warning sirens also blared Tuesday in Honolulu and people were told to move to higher ground.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a first tsunami wave of about 30 centimetres reached Nemuro on the eastern coast of Hokkaido.

Damage and evacuations were reported in the Russian regions nearest the quake's epicentre on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The first tsunami wave hit the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, the main settlement on Russia's Kuril Islands in the Pacific, according to the local governor Valery Limarenko. He said residents were safe and staying on high ground until the threat of a repeat wave was gone.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of one to three metres above tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan and the Solomon Islands. Waves of more than three metres were possible along some coastal areas of Russia and Ecuador.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami had been generated by the quake that could cause damage along the coastlines of all the Hawaiian islands.

"Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property," the warning stated. The first waves were expected around 7 p.m. local time Tuesday.

The quake at 8:25 a.m. Japan time had a preliminary magnitude of 8.0, Japan and U.S. seismologists said. The U.S. Geological Survey later updated its measurement to 8.8 magnitude and the USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of 20.7 kilometres.

The quake was about 119 kilometres away from the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000, on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Russia's Tass news agency said people in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ran out into the street without shoes or outerwear. Cabinets toppled inside homes, mirrors were broken, cars swayed in the street and balconies on buildings shook noticeably. Tass also reported power outages and mobile phone service failures.

Tass also quoted a local Russian official as saying residents on Sakhalin Island were being evacuated and emergency services were working at full capacity.