Word: tsunamis
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...resident remembered a minor tsunami from decades ago, how it sucked the water out of a canal and then came back as a six-inch wall of water. "It didn't crest or foam," he recalled, "it was a wall." Locals in Hawaii know which areas to worry about when a tsunami warning goes off. Phonebooks have maps in the front indicating the likeliest inundation zones. Authorities also know which harbors to evacuate. That's why as soon as state officials were notified about the tsunami rippling out from the quake in Chile, ships were evacuated from the harbors...
...last time Hawaii ordered a major evacuation was after an earthquake and tsunami ravaged Russia's Kuril islands, in 1994. The government closed down schools, state and county offices and sent workers home. But nothing ended up happening in Hawaii. This time, however, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said that no one was predicting a "worst case scenario," it said that damaging waves are quite likely to occur...
...store ended up opening early to accommodate them). But despite the lines, there seemed to be more concern and caution than outright fear. "Everyone is small-kine panicking," said one resident, using a local term for "just a little bit." See a graphic depiction of the Indian Ocean tsunami...
Because the Ring follows the coastlines of Pacific Ocean, almost any major quake can also produce a tsunami, a powerful wave that travels from the epicenter of the temblor across the ocean basin. That's what happened in 2004, when a 9.3-magnitude quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a devastating tsunami, and that's is what's likely to happen following today's 8.8-magnitude quake off the coast of Chile. (See the latest photos of the earthquake in Chile...
...explain why building codes are far tougher in Chile than they are in Haiti, which should help limit the number of casualties from today's quake. So far, 147 people have been confirmed dead, but that number is expected to rise. (Read "After Chile's Quake: Waiting for a Tsunami on Waikiki...