A WEAK tsunami has hit the Gambier islands in French Polynesia but there’s been no major damage because traffic was suspended in the region in a tsunami alert following the quake in Chile.
Huge waves struck the Gambier archipelago at 6:30am on Saturday (3.30am AEDT Sunday), the high commissioner’s office in Papeete said.
Sirens wailed in French Polynesia and PA systems woke up residents on Saturday to alert them about the impending waves.
The high commissioner’s office in Papeete put the islands on alert at 2am (11pm AEDT Saturday), saying the first waves were expected to reach the Gambier archipelago.
A flight run by Air Tahiti Nui, due to arrive in Tahiti on Saturday, was diverted to Hawaii.
In Tahiti which was expected to be hit at 7:50am (4.50am AEDT Sunday) all traffic was banned within 500 metres of the coast.
The tsunami could be as high as two metres in the Marquise islands and on Rurutu in the Australes, the authorities said, while warning people in the latter places to climb to at least 10 metres above sea level.
The high commissioner’s office warned that a tsunami comes in several waves of which the first may not be the highest.
A huge arc of Pacific nations from New Zealand to Japan went on tsunami alert following the 8.8 magnitude Chilean earthquake on Saturday, readying emergency plans instituted after the Indian Ocean disaster of 2004.
Related posts:
Mapa de la Polinesia Francesa.


El tsunami provocado por el terremoto de Chile el día de hoy ha alcanzado la Polinesia Francesa, específicamente en el archipiélago de las Gambier, a las 06.30 hora local (16.30 UTC). Según el Alto Comisionado del territorio dependiente de Francia, la ola alcanzó la altura de un metro en estas islas y ocasionó daños sin importancia. En las islas Marquesas y en Rurutu se registró una altura de dos metros.

Las sirenas habían comenzado a sonar desde las 04.00 hora local (14.00 GMT) y vehículos con altavoces alertaron a la población. En Tahití, como en el resto de la Polinesia Francesa, la presencia de personas estaba prohibida a menos de 500 metros de las costas y las escuelas fueron cerradas. Los habitantes han sido reubicados a lugares más arriba de los 10 metros de altura.