HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency has issued a tsunami watch for the Hawaiian Islands after an earthquake rattled the east coast of Russia. According to the National Weather Service, the watch was issued just after 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 29, following the 8.7 magnitude quake.

In light of the tsunami alert following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Russia on Tuesday, Alaska Airlines is pausing flights to the Hawaiian islands.

One of the world’s strongest earthquakes struck Russia’s Far East early Wednesday, causing small tsunami waves in Japan and Alaska and prompting warnings for Hawaii, North and Central America and Pacific islands south toward New Zealand.