Thread: Tsunami threat - Hawaii and Guam evacuating coasts

reuters
By Suzanne Roig and Jorene Barut

UPDATE 4-Hawaii orders evacuations in Pacific tsunami threat

* Hawaii and Guam residents told to leave coastal areas

* Tsunami could wash over some Pacific islands - Red Cross

* Warning extended to Northern California and Oregon (Updates tsunami warning)

HONOLULU, March 10 (Reuters) - Hawaii ordered evacuations of its coastal areas and braced for a possible tidal wave set off by Friday's earthquake in Japan as a tsunami warning was extended to most of the Pacific basin, including northern California and Oregon.
http://www.reuters.com/places/japan

Some 3,800 miles (6,200 km) from Japan, the main airports on at least three of the major Hawaiian islands -- Maui, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii -- were shut down as a precaution, and the U.S. Navy ordered all warships in Pearl Harbor to remain in port to support rescue missions as needed.

Civil defense officials ordered all Hawaiian coastal areas evacuated by 2 a.m. local time, about an hour before the first wave was expected to hit the islands at 8 a.m. EST/1300 GMT.

Authorities also ordered evacuations from low-lying areas on the U.S. island territory of Guam in the western Pacific, where residents there were urged to move at least 50 feet (15 metres) above sea level and 100 feet (30 metres) inland.

Guam initially appeared to have emerged unscathed.

"So far no waves," Lorilee Crisostomo told Reuters by telephone from Guam, roughly an hour after the tsunami was first due. Two hours later, Guam Police Department Officer A.J. Alajadia said there was still no sign of trouble.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported a tsunami more than 5 feet (1.5 metres) above sea level on the Midway Atoll between Japan and Hawaii, but there were no reports of damage.

The agency said the tsunami warning was posted from Mexico down the Pacific coast of South America. The advisory was later extended to a stretch of the U.S. West Coast from Point Conception, California, north through Oregon.

President Barack Obama, a native of Hawaii, was notified of the massive Japanese quake at 4 a.m./0900 GMT and instructed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be prepared to affected U.S. states and territories, the White House said.

"We will continue to closely monitor tsunamis around Japan and the Pacific going forward, and we are asking all our citizens in the affected region to listen to their state and local officials," Obama said in a statement.

The quake off Japan's northeast coast was the biggest in 140 years and triggered tsunami waves of up to 30 feet (10 metres) that swept across farmland, carrying away homes, crops, vehicles and triggering fires. [ID:nL3E7EB0MF]

On Easter Island, a Chilean territory in the South Pacific, authorities planned to move residents to higher ground hours before a possible tsunami was expected to reach the volcanic isle on Friday afternoon.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/ ... 1320110311

related

REPORT: 88,000 People Are Missing In Japan

http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-mi ... z1GJU2VUy2

According to the Kyodo News Agency, via BBC, the official missing persons tally is around 88,000.

http://www.eitb.com/news/world/detail/6 ... ach-japan/[/b]

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Tsunami Travel Map

http://www.reuters.com/article/interact ... mesticNews

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CALIFORNIA - Waves sweep 4 out to sea in Crescent City as tsunami surges reach west coast

CRESCENT CITY, CA (AP) - Officials say the tsunami triggered by the massive earthquake in Japan has killed one person, swept three others out to sea and caused severe damage to the harbor in Crescent City, near the Oregon border.

http://www.news10.net/news/local/story. ... yid=127779

Oh this is just terrible, terrible, terrible. I feel so sorry for the people in Japan and now the other areas being impacted. What a horrible disaster.

I have never in my life seen anything like this. This is not just a weather disaster - I think it goes deeper than that. Its not like we've never had these kinds of things happen before - it's just that they are happening with a greater frequency with less and less time in between. It's getting to the point where it's hard to remember and keep track of them all.

I don't know or understand whats going on, but it's scary and we are long overdue for our own disaster here in the USA. I hope people are preparing.

I just saw that there are volcanos in Japan erupting too.

It's like the earth is crying out for help....