Tsunami Waves Hit Hawaii

Tsunami Waves Hit Hawaii Islands After Devastating Japan Coast

By Allison Schaefers -

Waves hit the deserted Waikiki shoreline on March 11, 2011 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Photographer: Lucy Pemoni/Getty Images

The tsunami that slammed Japan’s eastern coast hit Hawaii early today, and waves were spreading as people along the U.S. island chain’s coast evacuated.

Hawaii was hit by a 1-meter (39-inch) wave, according to scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which was anticipating scattered damage, not major destruction.

U.S. Coast Guard rescue crews were preparing to provide post-tsunami support to Hawaii and had aircraft ready to launch. Honolulu closed all commercial ports and relocated vessels to safer areas. The Port of Guam also is closed, according to the Coast Guard.

The tsunami swept through Hawaii about seven hours after Japan was struck by its strongest earthquake on record. The 8.9-magnitude temblor shook buildings across Tokyo and unleashed a seven-meter-high tsunami that killed hundreds as it engulfed towns on the northern coast.

The Philippines, Indonesia and Chile were among more than 20 countries told to brace for a possible tsunami, after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center raised an alert. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for the U.S. west coast.

In Waikiki, guests at the Outrigger Waikiki Beach and Outrigger Reef hotels were moved above the fourth floor well before the tsunami’s anticipated 3:07 a.m. arrival. Hotel managers and employees gathered in an 11th-floor suite to watch the tsunami from 100 feet above.

Bonnie Lopez and her daughter Pasha, who live on the second floor of a two-story walk up on nearby Lewers Street, sought shelter at the Outrigger.

“It was scary when the police and fire department came through our neighborhood,” Lopez said. “Last year’s tsunami wasn’t like this one.”

The waves hit about 20 minutes later than predicted. When the water began to retreat off Waikiki Beach, Lopez said that she’d never seen anything like it.

“It was like someone had taken the thing out of the bath tub and let all the water run out,” she said.