Write artickal on Pacific Tsunami Alert Following Major Earthquake
The Shake-up
Giant magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia with a shallow depth in the range of 13 km. It happened close to a significant megathrust boundary on which the Pacific plate is diving beneath the North American/Okhotsk plates a high seismic area of Pacific Ring of Fire .
It was one of the strongest in decades in the history of earthquakes around the world and the strongest ever in the region since 1952. A number of important aftershocks (up to magnitude 6.9) occurred within hours of each other .
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Emergency Response to Tsunamis and Warning
Governments were quick to issue tsunami warnings in the pacific:
In Japan, almost 2 million citizens were instructed to move out of the coast as they predicted waves of ~1.3�� районаtain inches .
In U.S., Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington were under alerts but initially, the warnings were degraded as the threat shifted away .
Proactive evacuation of South American Pacific islands such as Ecuador Galapagos Islands and the Easter Island, Chile were also undertaken .
No nuclear plants were affected; in precautionary principle, evacuation was done around Fukushima in Japan due to the history of the recent disaster in 2011 .
Pacific Pacific Impacts of Tsunamis
Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands (Russia)
In Severo‑Kurilsk, the tails of tsunami 300-400 m high washed away coastal facilities, for example, seaports and fisheries and immediate damage and injuries took place due to the swing of vessels off the moorings .
Hawaii
Measured waves were twice as high as that, 1.7 m (5.7 ft) in Maui (Kahului), 1.2 m (3.9 ft) at Hanalei Bay and the same height in Hilo and Oahu.
Evacuations caused very heavy traffic; flights were canceled or diverted.
A downgrading of warning levels also occurred, with warnings being changed to advisories, but officials warned that several waves could be the case with tsunamis and the waves may take several hours .
West Coast United States
California was hit by minor tsunami waves of ~0.5 l m with the same or correspondingly less impact in some regions of Oregon and Washington.
Most of them were subsequently removed but others were still operational briefly as authorities observed the situation .
Japan
The maximum heights of waves were ~1.3m in Hokkaido and northeast coastlines. Even though there was widespread recalling of 2011, there was no significant damage and no nuclear accidents took place .
South America Pacific Islands
The waves were estimated at about 1m in the Galapagos; evacuation in Ecuador and Chilean islands, mainland coastal areas was successfully done.
Context & Preparedness
Known to be one of the most seismically active regions of Earth, Kamchatka-Kuril region is situated in one of the most active subduction zones. Past tremors in 1952 (>=9.0), 1918 (~8.1), and 2006 (8.3) have also produced Pacific wide earthquakes that caused tsunamis even though nowadays preparedness can curtail the losses.
Volcanic activities Also after the quake Klyuchevskoy is the most active volcano in Russia, which erupted soon after the quake, but so far there are no reports of casualties and both the activities are under observation .
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Key Takeaways and Q&A Notes
The 8.8 quake was very rare and very strong because it took place in a geologically risky area.
Tsunami warnings were posted across the Pacific and, although the waves and their heights reached 1-1.7m locally, no major destruction was done due to the quick evacuations and warning signals.
Officials point out that in many cases of tsunami a second or third wave happens. The biggest one may not be the first of, and close vigilance and following of directives should be kept.
That incident highlights the significance of preparedness in places that have a high level of earthquakes.
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