Hot White Bikini - The threat of lethal tsunami waves from the earthquake in Chile forced more than 1.5 million people to higher ground in countries on the other side of the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, but in the end small waves left only minor damage.
2010 Chile Earthquake - he Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii lifted its alarms for the entire Pacific Basin, and evacuations of many coastal areas were canceled after smaller than expected waves appeared. In Japan, waves three feet high caused minor flooding in a half dozen towns, with television images showing shallow water covering a few empty streets.
On coastlines from Australia to the Russian Far East to Hawaii, officials had evacuated residents and issued warnings to be on the lookout for large waves following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of Chile on Saturday. The Asia-Pacific region waited in suspense for almost 24 hours, the time that scientists predicted it would take shock waves from the powerful earthquake to race across the ocean in the form of massive waves.
But the predicted time of impact came and went, with waves only a few feet or even just a few inches taller than normal spotted in places as distant as the beaches of Sydney, Australia and Russia’s frigid Kuril Islands.
As of Monday morning, there were no other reports of injuries, or of property damage elsewhere in the region, causing officials to breathe an almost audible sigh of relief.
“Luckily, these waves are far smaller than the agency’s forecast,” said Kazuaki Ito, director of the Information Institute of Disaster Prevention, a Tokyo-based nonprofit group that advises on natural disasters.
Still, the threat of destructive waves was taken seriously in a region where memories of the deadly December 2004 tsunami in the neighboring Indian Ocean remained raw. Nearly 230,000 people in 14 countries died. One of the reasons for the high death toll was a lack of an early warning system in that area; the Pacific Ocean area has a sophisticated early warning system centered in Hawaii.
Some of the most thorough preparations over the weekend were taken by Japan, where meteorological agency officials issued the nation’s first major tsunami warning in 17 years. They initially said they expected walls of water up to nine feet high.
In Tokyo, commuter train lines and highways along the edge of Tokyo Bay were closed for hours. Across the Japanese archipelago, some 1.5 million people were advised to leave their homes for safety. Many of those evacuated were in the northern part of the main Japanese island of Honshu, the same area where tsunamis caused by a similarly large earthquake in Chile in 1960 left some 142 people dead or missing.
On Sunday, Japanese television showed elderly residents in Iwate prefecture sitting on blankets in school gyms that had been turned into makeshift shelters. In the hilly port city of Hakodate, on the northern island of Hokkaido, residents sat on hilltops for hours on Sunday watching the sea.
In the Philippines, hundreds rushed to higher ground and boats returned to shore as the nation readied itself for waves of at least three feet. Vessels that were farther out to sea were advised to stay in deeper waters, where passing tsunamis raise water levels only a few inches. The waves do not build to more destructive heights until they reach shallower waters.
Bellaflor Angara Castillo, governor of the northern province of Aurora, said in a radio interview early on Sunday that mayors in her province had readied evacuation centers and positioned vehicles to aid in relocating residents. Officials warned residents to be careful, even after the threat of the waves seemed to pass.
The 1960 earthquake in Chile also sent 20-foot tsunamis to the Philippines within 24 hours.
In Russia, dozens of people were told to leave their homes for higher ground in the Kuril Islands, a remote chain stretching north from Japan. The waves that hit the Kuril Islands were about 2.5 feet high, but no damage or injuries were reported and the tsunami watch was lifted.
Sydney’s Manly Beach was briefly evacuated Sunday morning, but hundreds of local residents showed up anyway to watch for waves. Dozens of surfers defied the warnings by paddling out in hopes of riding one of the tsunamis, if they came. They were disappointed.
The tsunami warning was lifted in Hawaii late on Saturday after waves of about five feet were sighted, without any apparent damage. Beaches were briefly cleared of swimmers, and tourists were sent to upper floors of hotels.
In Japan, it was only the fourth time in 52 years that the national meteorological agency issued a warning for a major tsunami, extending along the nation’s Pacific coast from the northern island of Hokkaido as far south as parts of Tokyo.
Japan has a long history of such waves — the word tsunami itself is Japanese — and the nation has extensive defenses in coastal areas, including concrete sea walls and fortified towers where fleeing residents can stay safe above roiling waters.
2010 Chile Earthquake - he Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii lifted its alarms for the entire Pacific Basin, and evacuations of many coastal areas were canceled after smaller than expected waves appeared. In Japan, waves three feet high caused minor flooding in a half dozen towns, with television images showing shallow water covering a few empty streets.
On coastlines from Australia to the Russian Far East to Hawaii, officials had evacuated residents and issued warnings to be on the lookout for large waves following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of Chile on Saturday. The Asia-Pacific region waited in suspense for almost 24 hours, the time that scientists predicted it would take shock waves from the powerful earthquake to race across the ocean in the form of massive waves.
But the predicted time of impact came and went, with waves only a few feet or even just a few inches taller than normal spotted in places as distant as the beaches of Sydney, Australia and Russia’s frigid Kuril Islands.
As of Monday morning, there were no other reports of injuries, or of property damage elsewhere in the region, causing officials to breathe an almost audible sigh of relief.
“Luckily, these waves are far smaller than the agency’s forecast,” said Kazuaki Ito, director of the Information Institute of Disaster Prevention, a Tokyo-based nonprofit group that advises on natural disasters.
Still, the threat of destructive waves was taken seriously in a region where memories of the deadly December 2004 tsunami in the neighboring Indian Ocean remained raw. Nearly 230,000 people in 14 countries died. One of the reasons for the high death toll was a lack of an early warning system in that area; the Pacific Ocean area has a sophisticated early warning system centered in Hawaii.
Some of the most thorough preparations over the weekend were taken by Japan, where meteorological agency officials issued the nation’s first major tsunami warning in 17 years. They initially said they expected walls of water up to nine feet high.
In Tokyo, commuter train lines and highways along the edge of Tokyo Bay were closed for hours. Across the Japanese archipelago, some 1.5 million people were advised to leave their homes for safety. Many of those evacuated were in the northern part of the main Japanese island of Honshu, the same area where tsunamis caused by a similarly large earthquake in Chile in 1960 left some 142 people dead or missing.
On Sunday, Japanese television showed elderly residents in Iwate prefecture sitting on blankets in school gyms that had been turned into makeshift shelters. In the hilly port city of Hakodate, on the northern island of Hokkaido, residents sat on hilltops for hours on Sunday watching the sea.
In the Philippines, hundreds rushed to higher ground and boats returned to shore as the nation readied itself for waves of at least three feet. Vessels that were farther out to sea were advised to stay in deeper waters, where passing tsunamis raise water levels only a few inches. The waves do not build to more destructive heights until they reach shallower waters.
Bellaflor Angara Castillo, governor of the northern province of Aurora, said in a radio interview early on Sunday that mayors in her province had readied evacuation centers and positioned vehicles to aid in relocating residents. Officials warned residents to be careful, even after the threat of the waves seemed to pass.
The 1960 earthquake in Chile also sent 20-foot tsunamis to the Philippines within 24 hours.
In Russia, dozens of people were told to leave their homes for higher ground in the Kuril Islands, a remote chain stretching north from Japan. The waves that hit the Kuril Islands were about 2.5 feet high, but no damage or injuries were reported and the tsunami watch was lifted.
Sydney’s Manly Beach was briefly evacuated Sunday morning, but hundreds of local residents showed up anyway to watch for waves. Dozens of surfers defied the warnings by paddling out in hopes of riding one of the tsunamis, if they came. They were disappointed.
The tsunami warning was lifted in Hawaii late on Saturday after waves of about five feet were sighted, without any apparent damage. Beaches were briefly cleared of swimmers, and tourists were sent to upper floors of hotels.
In Japan, it was only the fourth time in 52 years that the national meteorological agency issued a warning for a major tsunami, extending along the nation’s Pacific coast from the northern island of Hokkaido as far south as parts of Tokyo.
Japan has a long history of such waves — the word tsunami itself is Japanese — and the nation has extensive defenses in coastal areas, including concrete sea walls and fortified towers where fleeing residents can stay safe above roiling waters.
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