Photography by Baron Sekiya | Hawaii 24/7

Canoes were loaded and trucked out of Hilo Bayfront by paddlers protecting their investments.

Canoe club members got to Hilo Bayfront early to empty canoe halau everything they could carry away to avoid loss and damage from the tsunami.

Sailboats head into open waters outside of Hilo Bay to avoid tsunami wave action in shallow waters.

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 16
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
935 AM HST SAT FEB 27 2010

TO – CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT – TSUNAMI WARNING SUPPLEMENT

A TSUNAMI WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

   ORIGIN TIME - 0834 PM HST 26 FEB 2010
   COORDINATES - 36.1 SOUTH   72.6 WEST
   LOCATION    - NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
   MAGNITUDE   - 8.8  MOMENT

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

 GAUGE LOCATION        LAT   LON    TIME        AMPL         PER
 -------------------  ----- ------  -----  ---------------  -----
 CABO SAN LUCAS MX    22.9N 109.9W  1833Z   0.36M /  1.2FT  12MIN
 DART TONGA 51426     23.0S 168.1W  1844Z   0.04M /  0.1FT  30MIN
 HIVA OA MARQUESAS     9.8S 139.0W  1741Z   1.79M /  5.9FT  12MIN
 PAPEETE TAHITI       17.5S 149.6W  1810Z   0.16M /  0.5FT  10MIN
 NUKU HIVA MARQUESAS   8.9S 140.1W  1745Z   0.95M /  3.1FT  04MIN
 MANZANILLO MX        19.1N 104.3W  1705Z   0.32M /  1.0FT  24MIN
 DART MANZANILLO 434  16.0N 107.0W  1611Z   0.07M /  0.2FT  24MIN
 ACAPULCO MX          16.8N  99.9W  1549Z   0.16M /  0.5FT  24MIN
 RIKITEA PF           23.1S 134.9W  1559Z   0.15M /  0.5FT  22MIN
 DART MARQUESAS 5140   8.5S 125.0W  1531Z   0.18M /  0.6FT  18MIN
 BALTRA GALAPAGS EC    0.4S  90.3W  1452Z   0.35M /  1.2FT  14MIN
 EASTER CL            27.2S 109.5W  1205Z   0.35M /  1.1FT  52MIN
 ANCUD CL             41.9S  73.8W  0838Z   0.62M /  2.0FT  84MIN
 CALLAO LA-PUNTA PE   12.1S  77.2W  1029Z   0.36M /  1.2FT  30MIN
 ARICA CL             18.5S  70.3W  1008Z   0.94M /  3.1FT  42MIN
 IQUIQUE CL           20.2S  70.1W  0907Z   0.28M /  0.9FT  68MIN
 ANTOFAGASTA CL       23.2S  70.4W  0941Z   0.49M /  1.6FT  52MIN
 DART LIMA 32412      18.0S  86.4W  0941Z   0.24M /  0.8FT  36MIN
 CALDERA CL           27.1S  70.8W  0843Z   0.45M /  1.5FT  20MIN
 TALCAHUANO CL        36.7S  73.4W  0653Z   2.34M /  7.7FT  88MIN
 COQUIMBO CL          30.0S  71.3W  0852Z   1.32M /  4.3FT  30MIN
 CORRAL CL            39.9S  73.4W  0739Z   0.90M /  2.9FT  16MIN
 SAN FELIX CL         26.3S  80.1W  0815Z   0.53M /  1.7FT  08MIN
 VALPARAISO CL        33.0S  71.6W  0708Z   1.29M /  4.2FT  20MIN

 LAT  - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
 LON  - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
 TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
 AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
        IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
        VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
 PER  - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED THAT COULD CAUSE DAMAGE ALONG
COASTLINES OF ALL ISLANDS IN THE STATE OF HAWAII. URGENT ACTION
SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT LIVES AND PROPERTY.

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF LONG OCEAN WAVES. EACH INDIVIDUAL WAVE
CREST CAN LAST 5 TO 15 MINUTES OR MORE AND EXTENSIVELY FLOOD
COASTAL AREAS. THE DANGER CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AFTER THE
INITIAL WAVE AS SUBSEQUENT WAVES ARRIVE. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS
CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST.
TSUNAMI WAVES EFFICIENTLY WRAP AROUND ISLANDS. ALL SHORES ARE AT
RISK NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION THEY FACE. THE TROUGH OF A TSUNAMI
WAVE MAY TEMPORARILY EXPOSE THE SEAFLOOR BUT THE AREA WILL
QUICKLY FLOOD AGAIN. EXTREMELY STRONG AND UNUSUAL NEARSHORE
CURRENTS CAN ACCOMPANY A TSUNAMI. DEBRIS PICKED UP AND CARRIED
BY A TSUNAMI AMPLIFIES ITS DESTRUCTIVE POWER. SIMULTANEOUS HIGH
TIDES OR HIGH SURF CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE TSUNAMI HAZARD.

THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME IN HAWAII OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

1105 AM HST SAT 27 FEB 2010

MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.