Hawaii Tsunami Alert Level Downgraded After Region Braced for Severe Impact

TIME

A powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Russia’s eastern peninsula has triggered tsunami warnings in Russia, Japan, and parts of the U.S. The archipelagic state of Hawaii began to be hit by waves around 7:30 p.m. HST (1:30 a.m. ET), according to NOAA data, which showed that waves as high as 5.7 ft (1.74 m) were detected in Kahului, Maui, coming in 34-minute intervals. All warnings across the state of Hawaii have been downgraded to advisories, according to NOAA.

Transcript

00:00the sirens you hear are tsunami warning sirens to evacuate there is a wave coming to hit the

00:15island we're going to stay elevated this is our first tsunami warning ever so this is all new to

00:19us and they told us that we could do the elevated evacuation we're at the outrigger right on the

00:27beach but we didn't feel comfortable with that so we decided just to get out and go to higher ground

00:32yeah every gas station that we've passed is so full of people i luckily filled up my truck this

00:38morning to try to watch it on our phone for updates you know about because we've had a few of these

00:44before never anything so bad in hawaii or in honolulu yeah my lifetime maybe i can remember

00:51like three or four uh tsunami warnings like this um but i'm always trying to be a little bit more

00:58cautious because it's better to be safe than sorry hey the pacific tsunami warning center has downgraded

01:04the forecast from a tsunami warning to a tsunami advisory the ptwc continues to monitor for more

01:10data to upgrade to update its forecast and for an all clear that they may issue later on a tsunami

01:17advisory means that the potential for strong currents or dangerous waves are expected or occurring

01:21for those in or near the water there may be flooding of beach or harbor areas those who have evacuated

01:28may safely return home based on county assessments and directives watch for flood waters in some areas

01:36check for do an assessment and check your structures and your homes those that are close to the shoreline

01:45advisory still means that there's energy in the water so as you return home still stay off the beach

01:52and stay out of the water with this downgrade the coast guard will immediately start working with

01:57our fellow agencies and port partners specifically department of transportation harbors division with

02:03the commercial tugs and the maritime pilots to ensure commercial harbors are safe for navigation

02:11at which point we feel that is occurred we will open up all commercial harbors for

02:15traffic again

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