The entire state of Hawai has been placed under a Tsunami alert after a powerful 8.8 magnitude hit the east of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and a tsunami wave of more than one foot and a half was seen in Japan, authorities said.
“We expect damage. We expect significant damage along the coasts,” said Hawaii governor Josh Green, on Tuesday approximately two hours before the waves were expected to reach their state. “We pray so we don’t lose any of our loved ones.”
The earthquake occurred around 1:25 pm Tuesday Hawaii – 7:25 pm et and 8:25 am Wednesday morning in Japan, said the US Tsunami Warning Center. Uu. The earthquake sent a tsunami wave to the Kuril de Russia Islands in the Pacific, where the governor said that the residents were safe.
The largest wave until now, almost 20 inches, reached the main island of Japan in Honshu at 11:51 am local time, said the country’s weather agency, after smaller waves of approximately 12 and 16 inches, hit the Japanese island of Hokkaido. So far important deaths or damage have been reported.
In Hawaii, people were told to leave the low coastal areas. Tsunami’s first waves were expected to reach the state at 7:17 pm local time, said Tsunami’s warning center.
“Our appeal for you is: if you are in a low area, let yourself be safe, reach a higher land,” said Oahu mayor Rick Blangiardi, at a press conference.
He said that traffic was heavy on the island and urged patience, but also caution. “Pay attention. This is real and more serious,” he said.
The Hawaii State Department of State warned to avoid the city of Hanalei on the island of Kauai to allow people to evacuate.
On the great island, the thread airport stopped commercial operations to facilitate the evacuations of Keaukaha, the department said. The Coast Guard ordered all commercial ships to leave ports.
The Tsunami Warning Center said that the waves of 1 to 3 yards above the tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan and the Solomon Islands. The waves of more than 3 yards were possible throughout some coastal areas of Russia and Ecuador.
Japanese prime minister, Shigeru ishiba, warned people in areas under alert that distrust the secondary waves.
“Even if a tsunami reaches an area, the second or third waves could be greater, so pay close attention to information related to the tsunami and remain in a safe place until the alert is lifted,” he told reporters.
In Russia, Tsunami’s first wave reached the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, the main settlement in the Kuril Islands in Russia. Local governor Valery Limarenko said residents stayed on the ground until the threat of a repeated wave disappeared.
Russia Tass news agency reported from the largest city near the epicenter, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which many people went out without shoes or exterior clothing. The overthrown cabinets inside the houses, the mirrors broke, the cars swayed in the street and the balconies in the buildings trembled significantly.
Tass also reported power outages and failures in the mobile phone service in the capital of the Kamchatka region.
The National Warning Center of Tsunami, based in Alaska, issued a Tsunami warning for parts of the Alaska Aleutian islands and surveillance for parts of the west coast, including California, Oregon and Washington, as well as Hawaii.
The notice also includes a large strip of the coast of Alaska, including parts of Panhandle.
The Japanese government said that a working group for the collection of information and the response in case of any emergency had established.
Japan, part of the area known as the Pacific Fire Ring, is one of the countries most prone to the world’s earthquake.
Five powerful earthquakes, the largest with a magnitude of 7.4, beaten in the sea near Kamchatka this month. The largest earthquake was about 90 miles east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000.
On November 4, 1952, an earthquake of magnitude-9.0 in Kamchatka caused damage, but did not report deaths even though it triggered 30 feet waves in Hawaii.
