HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines issued the following statement: “We are monitoring a tsunami warning for the Hawaiian Islands and portions of the state of Alaska and assessing our flight operations. We are holding flight departures to the Islands on Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Russia this afternoon, prompting a tsunami watch for Hawaii. The temblor struck at 1:25 p.m. Hawaii time, 82.8 miles southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka, Russia, at a depth of 46 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Tsunami warning sirens were blaring Tuesday in Honolulu, and people were told to move to higher ground. This comes after an 8.7-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s Far Eastern coast, the Associated Press reported. Traffic was backed up in some neighborhoods in Honolulu.