Tsunami-threatened Pacific region ‘escapes major disaster’  

Countries in the Pacific area appear to have escaped a major disaster following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of Russia on Wednesday.

 

The Japanese Meteorological Agency revised all warnings for parts of Hokkaido Prefecture and the Tohoku region to lower level tsunami advisories. 

 

Tsunami advisories remain in place for Japan’s coast from Hokkaido to Okinawa, the Foreign Office noted in an updated travel advisory.

 

Specialist operator InsideJapan’s 24-hour customer support team in Japan contacted 345 customers in the country to check on their safety, reassure them and advise, and continues to monitor the situation.

 

Japanese authorities advised caution and evacuated some coastal areas of the northern Tohoku region. 

 

Tsunami warnings were issued in regions across the Pacific region as far apart as Hawaii, Alaska, China, Mexico and New Zealand. Many had been lifted 12 hours after the earthquake. 

 

However, the Peruvian government issued a tsunami alert for the country’s coastal area advising of a ‘high probability of a tsunami’.

 

It was recommended that people remain alert to updates, follow emergency instructions, avoid and evacuate from beaches and low-lying areas, and suspend any planned maritime activity, according to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

 

Chile’s National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response also issued tsunami alerts for Chile’s Pacific coast and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). 

 

The earthquake struck the eastern coast of Russia in the Kamchatka Peninsula region, triggering a tsunami threat message by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

 

"If you are in the affected areas potentially affected by the earthquake or tsunami you should follow the advice of the local authorities,” the FCDO reiterated.