HONOLULU (Reuters) - Hawaii sounded warning sirens and began evacuating residents near the coastline on Saturday ahead of a tsunami generated by a massive earthquake in Chile.
U.S. | Natural Disasters
Civil defense sirens sounded across the island state at 6 a.m. local time (11 a.m. EST) after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami was generated that could cause waves of up to 8 feet and damage along the coasts of all the Hawaiian islands.
"We're not expecting this to be a worst-case scenario, but we are expecting dangerous waves to appear on shore," said Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.
Civil defense officials sent firefighters and firetrucks into neighborhoods bordering the coast, and used loud speakers urging residents to evacuate.
Gas stations in Honolulu were jammed with lines of cars stretching a quarter of a mile in some places as residents waited to fill gas tanks before evacuating.
Buses were to patrol beaches and take people to parks in a voluntary process expected to last five hours.
"Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property," the Warning Center said in a bulletin. "All shores are at risk no matter which direction they face."
The center has issued a Pacific-wide tsunami warning that included Hawaii and stretched across the ocean from South America to the Pacific Rim.
Geophysicist Victor Sardina said the Hawaii-based center was urging all countries included in the warning to take the threat very seriously.
"Everybody is under a warning because the wave, we know, is on its way. Everybody is at risk now," he said in a telephone interview.
The warning follows a huge earthquake in Chile that killed at least 122 people and triggered tsunamis up and down the coast of the earthquake-prone country.
Updated estimates from the center forecast the first tsunami, which is a series of several waves in succession, would hit Hawaii at 11:05 a.m. Hawaii time (2105 GMT) in the town of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, with waves around 8-feet high.
POPULAR BEACHES
Smaller waves were then expected to hit Honolulu, and its popular beaches like Waikiki, roughly 20 minutes later.
Sardina said the center was looking at Hilo Bay on Hawaii Island as a worst-case scenario right now.
"The shape of the bay favors the waves gaining in height," he said in a telephone interview.
The last time a destructive tsunami struck Hawaii was on May 23, 1960, when much of downtown Hilo was destroyed and 61 people killed in the aftermath of a 9.5 magnitude earthquake off the west coast of South America, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Wave heights in Hilo Bay reached 31 feet.
But since then, tsunamis have largely been a no-show. The last time civil defense officials ordered evacuations was in 1994, prompting concern that some Hawaii residents may not take this event seriously.
The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center also said a tsunami advisory is in effect for the coastal areas of California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska from the California-Mexico border to Attu, Alaska.
A tsunami advisory means that a tsunami capable of producing strong currents or waves dangerous to persons in or very near the water is imminent or expected. But significant, widespread inundation is not expected for areas under an advisory.
(Reporting by Mike Gordon, Suzanne Gordon and Ikaika Hussey in Hawaii and Doina Chiacu in Washington; writing by Peter Henderson and Nicole Maestri, editing by Vicki Allen and Mary Milliken)
An 8.8 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Chile on Saturday, killing at least 214 people and causing significant structural damage. The earthquake was felt in Chillan, Talca, Concepcion, and the capital Santiago. Sea level recording triggered tsunami warnings for Chile, Peru, and Ecuador. The earthquake, which started at 06.34.14 UTC, was felt as far as Argentina. 

This earthquake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. The two plates are converging at a rate of 80 millimeters per year. 

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has announced that a tsunami warning is in effect for much of the Pacific Rim, including parts of Oceania and Central America.

According to the BBC, "large waves" have struck Chile's Juan Fernández Islands, reaching halfway into one inhabited area. Three people are missing local media says. Reuters reported the Tsunami hit Tahiti at 16.50 UTC, where the BBC reports that the first waves were "smaller," measuring only 36 centimeters.

According to the AFP, part of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia was hit by a 13 foot wave. No casualties have been reported. 

The New Zealand Herald reported New Zealand evacuated coastal areas at 8:00 AM local time (18.00 UTC). Waves of 20 centimeters or less were reported at the Chatham Islands (400 miles from the New Zealand mainland) at 19.05 UTC. The Ministry of Civil Defense told the BBC that "the greatest wave heights will occur between six and 12 hours after the initial arrivals."

Coastal waters in Hilo, Hawaii were reported as "visibly receding" at 11:30 AM local time (21.30 UTC) by Hawaii News Now.
According to MSNBC, a 5 1/2 foot wave reportedly made land fall on Hilo Bay, Hawaii a short while after 12:00 P.M. local time (22.00 UTC).