A tsunami advisory was also issued for parts of Alaska and the entire West Coast after a powerful earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.

Japan's weather office on Thursday lifted a tsunami advisory imposed a day earlier after Russia's Far East was rocked by one of the strongest earthquakes on record.The beaching of four sperm whales on a beach in Japan was initially blamed on the earthquake but officials said the animals had washed up a day earlier.

Tsunami waves arrived on the eastern coast of Japan following a powerful 8.8. magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of Russia that also sparked fears of a tsunami in the U.S.