Shanghai, east China brace for severe tropical storm after dodging tsunami

Shanghai and parts of China’s east coast are bracing for a severe tropical storm after a tsunami yellow alert for the region was cancelled on Wednesday, following a massive earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula.

The tropical storm generated by Typhoon Co-May was expected to make landfall on Wednesday evening, authorities said.

China’s Tsunami Warning Centre at the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the yellow alert on Wednesday morning, warning that waves ranging up to 100cm (40 inches) could hit Shanghai’s coast. The alert was lifted in the early afternoon.

Severe winds and rainfall from Typhoon Co-May – the eighth typhoon of the season – were expected in the city at around 6pm, according to Zhejiang province’s department of water resources.

The tsunami alert has been issued after a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula on Wednesday at 7.24am Beijing time, at a depth of 20km (12.4 miles), according to the ministry alert. Tsunami waves up to 30cm high were seen on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido soon after.

The tsunami alert had been issued for the coast of Shanghai and Zhoushan in Zhejiang province, which is also where Typhoon Co-May made landfall earlier today.