Coastal residents voiced relief yesterday as one of the biggest earthquakes in recent times did little more than flip over boats in a scare that demonstrated Japan's quick-moving tsunami alert system.
The earthquake, with a magnitude of at least 8.1, struck late on Wednesday in the northern Pacific Ocean northeast of Japan, triggering alerts stretching from Indonesia to California.
In Japan, authorities urged some 130,000 people to evacuate to higher ground in fear of the seismic waves. With memories of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami still fresh, hundreds of cars rushed to the hills.
The Japan Meteorological Agency had warned of waves up to 2m, but the biggest of a series of tsunamis to hit northern Japan was just 40cm.
"We all felt relieved when the tsunami warning was lifted," said Takeshi Tanaka, an official of the Fishermen's Association of Nemuro, which faces the Kuril chain -- the closest land to the quake's epicenter.
The US Geological Survey put the quake at 8.3 on the Richter scale, making it the 19th most powerful tremor ever recorded.
The underwater earthquake that triggered the December 2004 tsunami measured 9.1, the third strongest in recorded history.
The meteorological agency issued the tsunami warning 14 minutes after the earthquake occurred at 8:15pm -- and eight minutes before it reported the quake itself, owing to the remote location.
"Tsunami information has priority as it has a sense of urgency in terms of disaster prevention," said an agency official.
"Our expected waves were higher than the actual ones because we needed to issue it as quickly as possible even if some calculation errors may be included in the data," he said.
Japanese and US seismologists released tsunami data through international channels including to Russia, which disputes some of the Kuril island chain with Japan.
In Nemuro, the Japanese city facing the disputed Kuril islands, all residents who were evacuated have returned home "and are full of relief," said Yasukazu Imai, a city official.
"There was anxiety among residents following the tsunami warning but at the same time there was no chaos or confusion as we delivered the warning to our residents smoothly in line with our disaster relief manual," Imai said.
No damage or casualties were immediately reported from the Kuril islands, according to Russian officials.
Small tsunamis, some measuring several meters high, crashed into Hawaiin shores, slightly injuring one swimmer and temporarily flooding a harbor about six hours after the earthquake struck.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center canceled a tsunami watch initially issued for Hawaii when it became clear the waves would not be large enough to inflict serious damage.
But local civil defense authorities still warned people to stay out of the water and to exercise caution near harbors given the possibility the earthquake would generate unusual currents around Hawaii.
A woman swimming at Waikiki suffered cuts when she was sucked through an opening in a seawall as the water receded just before the swells arrived. She was otherwise fine, said John Cummings, a spokesman for Oahu Civil Defense.
On Kauai, a 75cm swell flooded a parking lot at Nawiliwili Harbor.
In California, two docks were damaged and several boats were tossed onto dry land from the force of the tsunami.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS