Chile earthquake: tsunami warnings trigger evacuations across Pacific
The devastating earthquake in Chile has triggered a tsunami which is radiating across the Pacific and has already caused serious damage on the islands said to have inspired Robinson Crusoe.
By David Barrett
Published: 1:37PM GMT 27 Feb 2010
Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet declares a ’state of catastrophe’ Photo: AP
An evacuation of coastal areas on Easter Island was under way as the tsunami was expected to make landfall there imminently.
An image generated by NOAA West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center shows the projected tsunami travel times following an earthquake that struck Chile Photo: REUTERS
Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean President, said an evacuation of coastal areas on Easter Island, the Chilean territory famous for its monumental statues, was under way as the tsunami was expected to make landfall there imminently.
British experts said a tsunami was now radiating from the epicentre towards Hawaii and other settlements on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
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The extent of the tsunami’s ferocity is not yet known, but it has already reached the southern Juan Fernandez Islands, about 400 miles off the coast of Chile, where it was reported to have caused “serious damage”.
The islands include one named after Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe’s protagonist, and another named after Alexander Selkirk, the Scottish sailor whose real life experiences as a castaway are said to have inspired the 1719 novel.
An alert was issued by the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre which predicted damage to the Hawaiian coast from 9pm GMT today.
“Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property,” the centre said in a bulletin. “All shores are at risk no matter which direction they face.”
The centre had earlier issued a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru, and a tsunami watch for Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, all of Central America and French Polynesia.
New Zealand also issued a tsunami alert, warning of a wall of water up to 10 feet high, with landfall due there at just after 6pm GMT.
The New Zealand National Crisis Management Centre warning said the greatest wave heights were expected between six and 12 hours after the initial arrivals.
Dr Brian Baptie, the British Geological Survey’s Head of Seismology, said: “This is largest earthquake to strike central Chile since a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 2001.
“A 1.3 metre tsunami wave was observed at Valparaiso, 200 kilometres north of the epicentre about 20 minutes after the earthquake.
“Tsunami waves in the deep ocean travel about the same speed as a jet plane and would take about 15 hours to reach Hawaii and about 20 hours to reach the other side of the Pacific.”
Dr David Rothery, from the Open University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said: “This morning’s magnitude 8.8 earthquake close to the Chilean coast has caused a tsunami that is now radiating away from the epicentre and travelling at several hundred kilometres per hour across the Pacific Ocean.
“The first waves are expected to Hawaii at 11:19 Hawaii Standard Time but are also travelling along the South America coast and will reach Colombia and Costa Rica after 1300 GMT.
He added: “A magnitude 8 quake is a rare event. On average there is only about one of these per year globally.”
Japan’s meteorological agency warned of a tsunami risk across large areas of the Pacific, as far away as the Antarctic, and in the Philippines officials warned low-lying coastal areas to prepare for a possible evacuation.
