Tsunami reaches Hawaii after 7.7 earthquake strikes western Canada
After barreling across the Pacific
Ocean for hours, a tsunami spawned by an earthquake in Canada struck the
Hawaiian Islands. 
Waves between 3 and 7 feet were expected to lash the
islands beginning about 10:28 p.m. Saturday (4:28 a.m. Sunday ET), the
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
The first waves to hit Honolulu
didn’t seem much stronger than usual. But scientists said don’t be
fooled by the initial waves, which often aren’t the biggest. “It’s not
just one wave, it’s a succession of waves,” Gerard Fryer, senior
geophysicist at the center, told reporters.
“The following waves, I am
sure, will be bigger.” But he noted that the tsunami will not be as
significant as the devastating quake and tsunami that killed thousands
in Japan in March 2011. Local television showed images of
bumper-to-bumper traffic on roads leading from the coast to inner
ground.
About 80,000 people live in evacuations zones in the island of
Oahu, the island where Honolulu is located. John Cummings, spokesman for
Honolulu Emergency Management, said officials have opened 26 centers
for evacuees.
“All islands and all shorelines will be affected when it
comes in,” Cummings said. Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle urged residents
who are already on higher ground to not clog traffic. Officials
expressed concerns about emergency vehicles getting by in heavy traffic.
But the tsunami warning came at an unfortunate time — when thousands of
revelers packed streets in Honolulu for the annual Hallowbaloo
festival. Even Hawaiians accustomed to tsunami warnings spared no effort
in bracing for the worst.
Honolulu resident Victoria Shioi filled her
bathtub with water, set her refrigerator to the coldest setting and
gathered candles in case of water or power outages. The tsunami was
spawned by an earthquake in western British Columbia, prompting a local
tsunami warning and sending some residents toward higher ground.
“A
(magnitude) 7.7 is a big, hefty earthquake — not something you can
ignore,” Fryer said. “It definitely would have done some damage if it
had been under a city.” Instead, the quake struck about 139 kilometers
(86 miles) south of Masset on British Columbia’s Queen Charlotte
Islands. No major damage was reported.
The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
issued a warning for western British Columbia from Vancouver to the
southern panhandle of Alaska. Canadians as far as Prince Rupert on
mainland British Columbia felt the quake.
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