Huh. Do you have feral chickens around you? Sounds like you’ll be having a tsunami watch party.
Yes we do. Also plenty of mongoose, parrots and cardinals.
Wow, your own wild kingdom.
The mongoose eat all the eggs. Chickens are tough old birds. The parrots and cardinals have no meat on them bones.
First news coming in at 7:10 pm local when waves expected to hit Kauai. 7:17 for Oahu.
Stay safe. It sounds like your only option is to eat the mongoose.
Hopefully this won’t be too bad for the affected areas, but that description, while correct, is understating the case.
Tsunami waves are nothing at all like surface waves caused by wind. They’re enormous rolling masses of water that rotate through the entire depth of the ocean. Ironically, a boat out at sea will hardly notice anything when a tsunami wave goes by, because it has a wavelength of a hundred miles or more and an amplitude of only a foot or two.
But a tsunami wave moves at hundreds of miles per hour and carries incredible energy. The destructive effects manifest when this enormously energetic mass hits a shoreline, as depicted in this graphic:
Live coverage of press briefing from Hawaii on Fox Weather right now giving updates and instructions. Traffic is still hellish from people escaping the low ground.
ETA: The mayor of Honolulu is wicked impressive – clear, firm, forceful warnings, explanations, but without sounding panicked.
I heard back from my friend in Honolulu and she’s safe, thank goodness:
it took me two hours and 45 minutes to get home in what is normally a 10 to 15 minute drive.
I should be fine in the Valley on a bit of a hill a few miles from the coast.
I read about the tsunami watch before we went into court.
When we were in court, everybody’s phone alarms went off.
After court, we got an email to leave, a tsunami warning.
It took me one hour to get out of the parking garage.
So according to their estimates, the first wave should hit Kauai at 7:17 which is about a little more than half an hour from now.
Hopefully, no one gets hurt.
But I will say the traffic in Honolulu is brutal. I kept picturing scenarios of being stranded in the car on the street.
Like that terrible tsunami that hit the north of Japan and moved buildings.
Measurements showed a three foot wave at Midway atoll, not like a normal wind wave - think rise in sea level. That will vary according to shore slope, other features, and/or being on a channel or bay that will funnel the energy.
Currently on vacation in Hilo. Our B&B is in the evacuation zone so we have relocated to another property the owner has at a higher elevation.
There was a cruise ship in port that had to leave a few hours early. I’m sure a lot of passengers were on excursions to the volcano. Wonder if the ship will return for the passengers or pick them up on the other side of the island at their next port of Kona.
I live in SF. No phone warning at all. Which has made me chuckle because the last time there was a big tsunami afoot (December 5, 2024) I started a thread and posted about the exact opposite problem– my phone hitting me up with desperate alerts but then nothing-crickets online:
Back from an excursion to Kolekole Park, where the waves would have been visible if anything had happened. By 8pm it was quite dark and nothing had happened, so we went home.
It was a good trip, as we got to meet some other residents of our town who were also there for the possible show.
Things have settled down here. My friend lives a mere two meters above sea level so he and his family are spending the night at their friends’ place.
The evacuation center near our house has a number of people staying overnight.
what a day.
I got an alert as well. You might consider signing up for AlertSF to make sure you get notified for such things.
Probably because tsunamis can cause effects up rivers. Sacramento is connected to San Francisco by river.
They have finally downgraded the warning.
I realize the excitement has passed. This time.
But this is a darn handy link to know about for sensation-free info on the hazards next time.
Here on the left coast advisories are still active.
And in South America they have raised alerts to the highest levels.
Thanks. I see that now. This is another great source for info about the earthquakes behind the tsnamis:
and specifally their
Map with list. The list in teh left margin is worldwide, but the map defaults to the continental US plus most of Canada. You can pan & zoom the map to see anywhere in the world. Or click the little globe icon at upper left for a choice of canned regional views.
We are enjoying coffee in a waterfront cafe in Port Townsend, Washington. All is calm.