NATIONAL NEWS - The first waves triggered by a massive 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s coast reached the shores of Hawaii and California in the United States yesterday.
The earthquake sparked tsunami warnings and evacuations across the Pacific.
The BBC, which is tracking the latest developments as the tsunami threat continues to ripple across the Pacific Ocean, says that while there are no reports of any injuries or fatalities in Russia, photos from towns and areas around the far eastern coast show buildings destroyed, ports submerged and people being evacuated by officials.
“Waves generated by the tsunami have started to hit American shores along Hawaii’s islands and off the coast of northern California.
“Hawaiian officials have downgraded tsunami alerts to an advisory level, and told residents that they may return home with caution,” the BBC reports.
“Western US states, including Washington, Oregon and Alaska, as well as Canada’s British Columbia, are on alert with waves expected to hit in the coming hours; warnings of varied levels have also been issued for Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru, Colombia and Japan,” reports the BBC.
Nearly two million people in Japan have been ordered to evacuate in parts of the country.
Initial waves reaching Japan have been smaller than predicted, but its meteorological agency says they could grow to 3m.
According to NBC News, the Japanese meteorological agency has downgraded some of its tsunami warnings to advisories.
“All areas except for the Pacific Coast of northern Hokkaido island and the northern Tohoku region of Honshu main island have been downgraded to an advisory, Masashi Kiyomoto, an agency official, told reporters today.”
The National Weather Service in Los Angeles says the Port San Luis gauge shows a rapid and damaging surge, going from low to high tide in just a few minutes.
“Do not return to inundated areas as waters will recede, but could return multiple times through the next 24 hours, and the first wave may not be the largest,” it warns.
According to Sky News, this is the sixth-biggest earthquake on record to hit off Russia, which has now cancelled tsunami warnings for two regions.
“Regional authorities on the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kiril Islands – the two worst hit areas in Russia – say that the warnings have ended. However, possible aftershocks and further large waves are still possible,” Sky News reports.
The Philippines has also cancelled its tsunami advisory.
The country’s Institute of Volcanology and Seismology says: “Based on available data from our sea level monitoring stations facing the Philippine Sea, no significant sea level disturbances nor destructive tsunami waves have been recorded since the 07:25 earthquake up until this cancellation.
“With this, any effects due to minor sea level disturbances have largely passed, and therefore, Dost-phivolcs has now cancelled the recommendations issued for this event.”
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