Hawaii tsunami: What time will tsunami hit destination, how far is it from Russia - as sea level begins to recede as waves approach
Parts of Hawaii’s coastline have begun to see the sea level recede as tsunami waves approach its islands, according to live webcams.
Multiple webcams from the islands of Kauai and Oahu, home to the capital city of Honolulu, show the water levels dropping significantly in the last hour. A tsunami typically causes the ocean water to recede unusually far from shorelines before main waves arrive.
Midway Atoll, a group of US islands about 1,000 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands, observed a water rise of more than 3 feet, officially 3.1 feet or about 1 meter according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. This is officially the highest tsunami observation over open water that we have seen in the Northern Pacific so far.
This measurement could indicate that the highest waves of the tsunami could occur in and around the Hawaiian Islands. The first waves are expected to hit Hawaii this hour.
Tsunami waves may come in ‘complicated patterns’ if it strikes Hawaii’s shores, a seismologist told CNN as residents rush to higher ground to avoid danger. “A tsunami wave is extremely different than your typical ocean wave … it’s very much just like a torrent of floodwater coming at you at the coastline,” said Helen Janiszewski, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.
The US Coast Guard has told all commercial vessels to leave Hawaii ports and barred any incoming ships from entering them until tsunami advisories have lifted. “All harbors in Hawaii have been closed to incoming vessel traffic. Vessels transiting within the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands or inbound to ports in Hawaii shall remain offshore until conditions subside,” a statement from the Coast Guard Oceania District said.
Russia and Hawaii are relatively close - especially when measuring from eastern Russia, which faces the Pacific Ocean and is directly across from Alaska and the northern Pacific region. From Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia (in the Kamchatka Peninsula) to Honolulu, Hawaii it is approximately 3,500 miles (5,600 kilometers).
The tsunami alert comes after a huge 8.8-magnitude hit off Russia this morning. More than 1.9 million people have been asked to evacuate in Japan.