Tsunami waves from Japan’s huge quake have killed at least one person and sparked mass evacuations on the American continent, but failed to inflict major damage.
Surges of 2.4m high crashed ashore on the coasts of California and Oregon on Friday, up to 12 hours after the magnitude 8.9 quake triggered tsunami alerts in dozens of countries across the Pacific.
In California’s Del Norte County, a 25-year-old man was confirmed dead after being swept into the Pacific Ocean near the mouth of the Klamath River.
Photo: Reuters
The man and two friends were taking photographs of the incoming tsunami waves.
“We have at least 35 boats that have been crushed. We have boats on top of other boats,” said Cindy Henderson, emergency services manager in Crescent City, 563km north of San Francisco.
The US Coast Guard added that there had also been damage to about six boats in a marina in Santa Cruz, further south, after they collided with each other owing to the buffeting tsunami waves.
Photo: AFP
Santa Cruz port director Lisa Ekers estimated the damage at more than US$10 million, according to CNN.
California Governor Jerry Brown, meanwhile, declared a state of emergency in four of the state’s coastal counties — a procedure that unblocks federal funds to help with the clean-up.
Before reaching the US mainland, the tidal waves hit Hawaii, which had been given only four hours to evacuate low-lying areas. Sirens blared as locals and tourists scrambled to higher ground.
Photo: EPA
Many residents had already taken refuge in shelters, after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an ocean-wide alert for the giant waves along the West Coast, down through Central and South America and as far as Antarctica.
Several hours later, Hawaii -Governor Neil Abercrombie said the tsunami warning had been downgraded to a tsunami advisory.
Canada also issued an alert for the north coast of British Columbia, warning it may “produce strong currents dangerous to those in or near the water.”
The largest wave to crash ashore in Hawaii — about 6,500km from the epicenter of the quake — was measured as a 1.8m surge that hit Kahului on the island of Maui, officials said.
Geophysicist Gerard Fryer with the Pacific center said it was a “significant tsunami.”
While no major damage was reported, waves had apparently been washing up about 30m inland on the Big Island.
In other developments, ports and beaches were temporarily shut and islanders and coastal residents ordered to higher ground up and down Latin America’s Pacific seaboard before the tsunami surge triggered by the earthquake in Japan, but it did little damage.
By the time the tsunami waves traveled across the wide Pacific Ocean and into the southern hemisphere, only slightly higher waters than normal came ashore in Mexico, Honduras and Colombia, Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, Chile’s Easter Island and Peru and Chile’s mainlands.
Waves as high as 2m crashed into South America into early on Saturday — in some cases sending the Pacific surging into streets — after coastal dwellers rushed to close ports and schools and evacuated several hundred thousand people.
Major evacuations were ordered in Ecuador and Chile, where hundreds of thousands of people moved out of low-lying coastal areas. After the devastating tsunami that Chile suffered following its major quake just over a year ago, authorities weren’t taking any chances.
Still, the danger waned as the day progressed and minimal damage was reported.
Heavy swells rolled through the port and marinas of the Baja California resort of Cabo San Lucas, rocking boats at anchor, but they did not top seawalls or bring any reports of damage.
Mexican officials closed the major cargo port of Manzanillo and officials said some cargo ships and a cruise liner had decided to -delay -entering ports to avoid possible problems from any rough water. Classes were suspended at some low-lying schools in the resort city of Acapulco, and officials urged -people to stay away from beaches.
Officials in Honduras said waves along its coast were little changed from the normal 1m and they lifted the tsunami alert at 7pm on Friday.
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