Summary
Tsunami alerts remain in effect in coastal parts of Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, and for Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, following the massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Russia’s far eastern coast – one of the strongest ever recorded – on Wednesday. Most earlier warnings were lifted or downgraded in most other parts of the world as the day went on, including for Japan, the US, Russia, the Philippines, and others, after the impact of the water surges was less than initially feared.
Authorities ordered evacuations from vulnerable coastal areas to safe zones on Ecuador and Chile’s Pacific islands on Wednesday, after the massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean. Waves recently begun to hit Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands with heights of about 1 meter and 0.4 meters were reportedly recorded in the islands of Baltra and Santacruz. Residents and tourists on Chile’s Easter Island evacuated to a church on higher ground, while evacuations began along the mainland’s Pacific coast. Chile also evacuated five prisons due to their location at low elevations.
Meanwhile in French Polynesia, local authorities lifted the tsunami alert in the remote Marquesas Islands. They said people could return to their homes, but should remain cautious. Tsunami waves had begun hitting early in the day, but were smaller than initially feared, authorities said.
In the US, major flooding had been avoided in the northern California community of Crescent City that experienced the highest tsunami waves on the west coast (around 8 feet tall), the city manager, Eric Wier, said. “It was a long night for all of us,” he said. “We were fortunate this time.”
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Updated
Chile is evacuating five prisons as the country remains on high alert for possible tsunamis.
Senapred, Chile’s national disaster response agency, said in a statement on their website that all five are being evacuated due to their location at low elevations.
The inmates will be transferred to other prisons as part of Chile’s natural emergency protocol, interior minister Álvaro Elizalde told CNN Chile.
