A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia’s far east has triggered tsunami waves reaching California and Hawaii, prompting emergency alerts but with diminishing fears of significant impact in the U.S.
Tsunami waves reached the U.S. mainland, making landfall at California’s San Francisco at 1:12 AM (08:12 GMT) on Wednesday, as confirmed by the National Weather Service for the San Francisco Bay Area.
The tsunami is also affecting the coastal Arena Cove area and is projected to continue moving further down the California coast.
A tsunami warning, representing the highest threat level, remains active for coastal areas spanning from Cape Mendocino to the Oregon/California border.
Additionally, a less severe advisory covers the coastline from the California/Mexico border to Cape Mendocino, including the San Francisco Bay.
Meanwhile, Hawaii reported that waves measuring 1-1.2 meters (3.3-3.9 feet) began impacting its islands shortly after 8:00 PM local time on Tuesday (06:00 GMT Wednesday).
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) later indicated that a major tsunami was unlikely to hit Hawaii, resulting in the downgrade of the alert from a warning to an advisory, allowing residents who had evacuated to return home.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, sharing that Hawaii managed to avoid a catastrophic tsunami but did experience a tsunami surge of at least a meter.
Tsunami advisories have also been issued for parts of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, where coastal gauges detected tsunami waves along the east Aleutian Islands and the Pacific side of the Alaska Peninsula.
The impact of the tsunami could persist for several hours, as indicated by Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska.
Snider explained, “Because the Earth is sending out huge ripples of water across the ocean, they will continue to move back and forth for quite a while.”
Despite initial concerns, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reassured the public that the threat of a major tsunami hitting the United States has completely passed.
Speaking from Santiago, Chile, where she is attending official meetings, Noem stated, “We’re in really good shape right now. We were fully deployed and ready to respond if necessary, but we’re grateful that we didn’t have to deal with the situation that this could have been.”
This tsunami threat follows the aftermath of the massive earthquake in Russia’s far-eastern Kamchatka region, which is one of the largest quakes on record.
The quake also prompted alerts for coastal communities in various regions including parts of Russia, Latin America, and multiple Asian and Pacific island states.
In Kamchatka, waves reaching heights of 4 meters (13 feet) submerged some buildings and forced thousands of residents in impacted islands to evacuate. Fortunately, Russian authorities reported no casualties and subsequently lifted their tsunami alert.
Japan had prepared for possible severe damage due to its proximity to the earthquake but has now downgraded all its tsunami alerts.
Conversely, in South America, Chile has declared a tsunami red alert for specific northern and southern coastal regions, while Peru anticipates high waves up to 2.31 meters (7.6 feet) and has closed numerous ports.
image source from：aljazeera
