HONOLULU: Hawaii was hit by a tsunami on Saturday night
prompting the authorities to order at least 100,000 people on the island
state to move to higher ground. The Pacific Tsunami Warning
Center said the first tsunami wave was three feet high and less forceful
than expected. Some forecasts had predicted a wave of up to six feet
high.
Visitors
and Oahu residents watch the ocean water surge in and out of the Ala
Wai Harbor carrying various debris during a tsunami Saturday, Oct. 27,
2012, in Honolulu. The water dropped about a foot in less then 30
seconds. The first waves of a tsunami hitting Hawaii on Saturday night
hit shore smaller than expected roughly three hours after officials
ordered evacuations of all coastal areas threatened after a powerful
earthquake off the coast of Canada. -- AP Photo
“The tsunami arrived about when we expected it should,” Senior
Geophysicist Gerard Fryer told reporters at a news conference, saying:
“I was expecting it to be a little bigger.” Other waves were
expected.
The tsunami hit with little warning and an alert, issued at short
notice due to initial confusion among scientists about the quake’s
undersea epicenter, caused massive traffic congestion as motorists made a
mass exodus from low-lying areas.
The Warning Center had said the first tsunami wave would strike the islands at 10:28 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time.
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle announced that all police and emergency
personnel were being pulled out from potential flood zones shortly
before the first wave, leaving anyone defying evacuation orders to fend
for themselves. He urged motorists who remained caught in harm’s way due
to gridlocked roads to abandon their vehicles and proceed on foot.
“If you are stuck in traffic, you might consider getting out of your
car and consider walking to higher ground. You will have to assess your
own situation, depending on where you are right now. Right now it is
critical,” he said Vindell Hsu, a geophysicist at the Tsunami
Warning Center said an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 people who live in
Hawaii’s coastal zones had been urged to move to higher ground until
after 10:30 p.m.
Governor Neil Abercrombie issued an emergency proclamation for the state.
The tsunami center cautioned that wave height could not be predicted
and that the first wave “may not be the largest”. It said: “All
shores are at risk no matter which direction they face”.
The warnings followed a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7
that hit Canada’s Pacific coastal province of British Columbia late on
Saturday.
There were no reports of major damage. Residents in parts of British
Columbia were evacuated but the province appeared to escape the biggest
quake in Canada since 1949 largely unscathed.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the powerful quake hit the Queen
Charlotte Islands just after 8 p.m. local time Saturday at a depth of
about 3 miles (5 kilometers) and was centered 96 miles (155 kilometers)
south of Masset, British Columbia. It was felt across a wide area in
British Columbia, both on its Pacific islands and on the mainland.
“It looks like the damage and the risk are at a very low level,” said
Shirley Bond, British Columbia’s minister responsible for emergency
management said. “We’re certainly grateful.”
The National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas
of British Columbia, southern Alaska and Hawaii, but later downgraded
the warning to an advisory for southern Alaska and British Columbia.
They also issued an advisory for areas of northern California and
southern Oregon.
The first wave of the small tsunami, about 4 inches (101.6
millimeters), hit the southeast Alaska coastal community of Craig.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center originally said there was no threat
to the islands of Hawaii, but a warning was issued later Saturday and
remains in effect until 7 p.m. Sunday. A small craft advisory is in
effect until Sunday morning. The center says the first tsunami wave
could hit the islands by about 10:30 p.m. local time.
Dennis Sinnott of the Canadian Institute of Ocean Science said a
69-centimeter (27 inch) wave was recorded off Langara Island on the
northeast tip of Haida Gwaii, formerly called the Queen Charlotte
Islands. The islands are home to about 5,000 people, many of them
members of the Haida aboriginal group. Another 55 centimeter (21 inch)
wave hit Winter Harbour on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
“It appears to be settling down,” he said. “It does not mean we won’t get another small wave coming through.”
Canada’s largest earthquake since 1700 was an 8.1 magnitude quake on
August 22, 1949 off the coast of British Columbia, according to the
Canadian government’s Natural Resources website. It occurred on the
Queen Charlotte Fault in what the department called Canada’s equivalent
of the San Andreas Fault — the boundary between the Pacific and North
American plates that runs underwater along the west coast of the Haida
Gwaii.
Saturday’s quake was the strongest in Canada since 1970 when a 7.4 magnitude quake struck south of the Haida Gwaii.
The USGS said the temblor shook the waters around British Columbia and
was followed by a 5.8 magnitude aftershock after several minutes.
Several other aftershocks were reported.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska said it was trying to warn everyone with
a boat on the water to prepare for a potential tsunami.
Lt. Bernard Auth of the Juneau Command Center said the Coast Guard was
working with local authorities to alert people in coastal towns to take
precautions.
The quake struck 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Sandspit, British
Columbia, on the Haida Gwaii archipelago. People in coastal areas were
advised to move to higher ground.
Urs Thomas, operator of the Golden Spruce hotel in Port Clements said
there was no warning before everything began moving inside and outside
the hotel. He said it lasted about three minutes.
“It was a pretty good shock,” Thomas, 59, said. “I looked at my boat
outside. It was rocking. Everything was moving. My truck was moving.”
After the initial jolt, Thomas began to check the hotel.
“The fixtures and everything were still swinging,” he said. “I had some picture frames coming down.”
Lenore Lawrence, a resident of Queen Charlotte City on the Haida Gwaii,
said the quake was “definitely scary,” adding she wondered if “this
could be the big one.” She said the shaking lasted more than a minute.
While several things fell off her mantle and broke, she said damage in
her home was minimal.
Many on the B.C. mainland said the same.
“I was sitting at my desk on my computer and everything just started to
move. It was maybe 20 seconds,” said Joan Girbav, manager of Pacific
Inn in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. “It’s very scary. I’ve lived
here all my life and I’ve never felt that.”
Residents rushed out of their homes in Tofino, British Columbia on
Vancouver Island when the tsunami sirens sounded, but they were allowed
to return about two hours after the quake.
In Hawaii, tsunami warning sirens could be heard blaring out across
Honolulu, the state capital on Oahu, the state’s most populous island,
prompting an immediate crush of traffic, with many motorists stopping
first at service stations to top up with gasoline.
At movie theaters, films were halted in mid-screening as announcements were made urging patrons to return to their homes.
he last time Oahu had a tsunami warning was after the devastating Japanese earthquake of March 2011.
On Honolulu’s famed Waikiki Beach, residents of high-rise buildings were told to move to the third floor or higher for safety.
Stephany Sofos, a resident of Diamond Head near Waikiki, said most people had either evacuated or relocated to a higher floor.
“I moved my car up the hill, packed up my computer and have my animals
all packed and with me,” Sofos said, saying that she had not yet seen
any obvious receding of the surf, a telltale sign that a tsunami wave is
imminent.
“I’m pretty confident because we have a lot of reefs out there and that
will prevent any major damage. Maybe it’s a false confidence, but I’m
not really worried,” she said, adding, “It is nerve-wracking.”
Tsunami Warning Center Geophysicist Gerard Fryer said the tsunami had
caught scientists by surprise.
“We thought that the earthquake was on land and when we learned that it
was deeper undersea and we gathered more information, we had no choice
but to issue a warning,” he said As residents scrambled to reach
higher ground on Oahu, at least four major road accidents were reported
by the state Emergency Medical Services. More accidents were also
reported on the outer islands. --
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