A worried but well-prepared Japan escapes tsunami damage

A nervous Japan on Sunday prepared for Godzilla. What it got instead was closer to the car insurance gecko.

Fearing a major tsunami could be triggered by Chile’s magnitude 8.8 earthquake, authorities here ordered nearly a quarter of a million households along the island nation’s eastern seaboard to evacuate to higher ground.

Disaster workers expected 10-foot waves or larger. Instead, by Sunday evening, only a few 6-inch to foot-high waves lapped onto Japanese-controlled shores.

“I was watching television all day and I was worried,” said Yufuko Goto, a 19-year-old who works as a waitress just outside Nagoya. “They were evacuating people. And I thought that something really big was coming our way.”

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii late Sunday lifted its tsunami alert that had been issued to 53 countries throughout the Pacific region after reporting only small waves in Japan and Russia. No damage or injuries were reported.

But Sunday still proved to be a day of drama throughout Japan.

According to Japan’s Meteorological Agency, the first tsunami waves measuring only a few inches high hit here several hours after the massive temblor struck off the Chilean coast. The waves were recorded in the Bonin Islands early Sunday afternoon.

Still, authorities warned residents that still bigger waves could be in store, and they continued their alert along the nation’s eastern coastline.

Many TV networks switched to live coverage of preparations. Emergency sirens screamed in many coastal communities. Train service was suspended and roads were closed in many low-lying areas.

The major tsunami warning was only the fourth since 1952, the Meteorological Agency said.

TV news reported that several eastern rivers had begun to flow inland, an ominous sign that made many residents recall a 1960 tsunami that killed 140 people.

“Carelessness could be the biggest enemy. In the past, even if the waves were not so big, there has been great damage,” Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters in Tokyo.

Despite spring-like weather in many parts of Japan, residents prepared for nature’s wrath, even if they didn’t live along the coast.

“None of my family lives along the coast, so I’m not worried. Still, I know that this could be big,” said Kazuma Maki, who works as a car mechanic just outside Nagoya.

The 56-year-old pondered the immense cost and inconvenience of quickly moving 245,000 households. But even if the effort was a false alarm, the drill was worth it, he said.

“The government is acting on information that scientists supply them,” he said. “They’re doing what they have to do. Because the alternative is worse: no evacuating people and have them hit by an incredibly huge tsunami.”

Goto agreed. “It’s better to be evacuated and alive,” she said.

But even if a big wave struck, Goto probably would not have had to worry. The restaurant where she works is on the 11th floor of a mall.

“I’m pretty high up,” she said.

john.glionna@latimes.com