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.

Alaska Airlines is pausing flights to Hawaii, where an emergency proclamation is issued ahead of tsunami waves expected to hit the islands Tuesday evening. “As a safety precaution, flights en route to Hawaii are returning to the mainland or diverting as needed,” a spokesperson for the airline said in an email.

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.