Japanese authorities urged more than 240,000 households to evacuate coastal areas after warning of tsunami surges as high as 3 meters (10 feet) following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile.
Residents near the shorelines of 15 prefectures, mainly northern Aomori, Miyagi and Iwate, were told to move to higher ground ahead of a tsunami expected to hit at about 1:30 p.m. local time, the Meteorological Agency said on the government’s Web site. A surge as high as 2 meters may hit other areas along Japan’s Pacific coast from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south, it said.
Japan issued its first large-scale tsunami warning since 1993 after one wave on the Hawaiian island of Maui measured 3.2 feet. Tsunami alerts have also been issued for the U.S. and Canadian west coasts, as well as for the Pacific regions of Russia, and the Philippines, according to meteorological reports.
The U.S. National Weather Service lifted its tsunami warning for Hawaii. The U.S. and Canadian west coasts remain under an advisory, which means currents may be hazardous for swimmers, boats and nearby structures though significant, widespread inundation isn’t expected.
The death toll from Chile’s quake yesterday exceeds 300, Carmen Fernandez, director of the country’s national emergency agency, told TVN. The pre-dawn quake was centered 200 miles (317 kilometers) southwest of the capital Santiago near the main winemaking region and close to Concepcion, a metropolitan region of over 500,000 people.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has set up an emergency taskforce to monitor the tsunami at his office, Hirofumi Hirano, the government’s spokesman, said on public broadcaster NHK today.
Iwate officials have ordered evacuation of some 80,000 coastal residents, while more than 40,000 in neighboring Aomori and some 35,000 in Miyagi have been urged to flee shorelines, the national broadcaster said.
For Related News and Information: Top Latin America news: TOPL Emerging Markets Market View: EMMV Japan and Tsunami news; 1/2NSE JAPAN TSUNAMI 3/4 —With assistance from Joel Guinto, Julianna Goldman in Washington and Amanda Coyne in Anchorage, Alaska. Editors: Jim McDonald, Nicholas Reynolds To contact the reporter on this story: Finbarr Flynn in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-2541 or fflynn3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Millard at +65-6212-1519 or mmillard2@bloomberg.net;
