Fearing tsunami, Hawaii evacuating up to 100,000 residents and tourists

Reporting from Seattle — 

Hawaiian authorities were rushing to evacuate up to 100,000 residents and tourists from low-lying coastal areas Saturday morning as an estimated 3-to-8-foot tsunami raced toward the islands at the speed of a jet plane.

Radio stations were broadcasting civil defense alerts, and sirens sounded in the early-morning hours, well ahead of the expected arrival of the waves, estimated at about 11 a.m. Hawaii time, triggered by a massive earthquake in Chile.

“We are taking this very seriously. We have activated, and we think this is a real emergency,” said Jane Lovell, spokeswoman for the civil defense agency on the island of Maui.

Two hours before the expected arrival of the tsunami, Gov. Linda Lingle signed an emergency disaster proclamation, and said she was preparing to take a National Guard helicopter to survey any damage.

“My overall impression is that the state is well-prepared,” she said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a Pacific-wide warning. An advisory, the lowest level of notice, is in effect for most of the West Coast of the U.S., including Alaska. Hawaii was expected to be among the hardest hit.

Half an hour before the tsunami was forecast to hit, Waikiki Beach was an eerie, nearly deserted scene. Cars lined the roads on higher ground, with onlookers, many of them in an apparently festive mood, gathering in good viewing spots

The U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet sent four warships and three other support and research vessels steaming out to sea as a precaution against damage near shore at Pearl Harbor.

A fifth warship, the Port Royal, was in port for maintenance and unable to sail, so it was being towed into deeper waters, said fleet spokesman Capt. Jeff Breslau.

“Even though we don’t anticipate high surge waves here, we don’t know for sure, so we’re just going to take precautionary measures,” Breslau said.

“Now it’s just a matter of watching and waiting,” Breslau said.

President Obama made a statement Saturday afternoon at the White House announcing that the U.S. was preparing for a tsunami to possibly reach U.S. soil in the Pacific, especially Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa. He also warned residents of the West Coast to be watchful and prepared for “dangerous waves and currents.”

“I urge citizens to listen closely to the instructions of local officials, who will have the full support of the federal government as they prepare for a potential tsunami, and recover from any damage that may be caused,” he said. “The most important thing that you can do is to carefully heed the instructions of your state and local officials.

“Once again, we’ve been reminded of the awful devastation that can come at a moment’s notice,” Obama added. “We can’t control nature, but we can and must be prepared for disaster when it strikes.”

Los Angeles County fire officials said they were not warning people to stay off beaches because they did not expect waves to rise more than 3 feet. But National Weather Service meteorologists said harbors could see a little bit more turbulence.

The forecast in Hawaii predicted a series of relatively low-level waves, ranging from 3 feet to as high as 8 feet in bays and other contained areas. Authorities said that even low-level flooding could cause widespread disruption along the coast comparable to major storm flooding.

“That doesn’t sound very big in comparison to the kind of waves you hear about in Hawaii, but tsunamis are not the same as normal ocean waves. You can’t compare it to surfing waves,” said Brian Shiro, a geophysicist at the Hawaii-based tsunami warning center.

“The wave comes in and it’s like a flood. The whole place floods inward. Water rushes in and it washes back out, in a period of about 20 minutes. And then the next one comes in 20 minutes later, approximately.”

Shiro said residents should be prepared for “a rapid rise in sea level” that could persist for an extended period of time.

“In most places in Hawaii, we are expecting tsunamis on the order of 2 to 3 feet in height. Not too big. But in those bays, some of those harbors, it could be as high as 10 to 12 feet,” he said.

Hilo on the Big Island was expected to be one of the first and most severely hit, but authorities said Maui and Oahu could also expect significant levels of water.

Shelly Ichishita at the state department of civil defense said authorities were expecting to evacuate more than 100,000 people in long-designated tsunami zones before the waves hit.

“The danger could last for hours, because the first wave is not necessarily the worst,” she said. “We are taking this very seriously.”

State officials said they were aided by a lengthy warning and the fact that the waves were expected to hit during daylight hours.

Hotels awakened guests early in the morning, many with refreshments in the lobby and buses waiting to take them to higher ground. Hotels on Waikiki were conducting a “vertical evacuation,” moving guests to higher floors.

At the Maui Lu resort on Maalaea Bay, front office manager Jody Kazaanecki said she at first had trouble persuading guests to leave. Many were not convinced the tsunami warning was serious.

“Everyone on the oceanfront rooms, and now in the garden rooms too, has been encouraged to go to the safety zone,” she said. Guests were being asked to walk about a quarter-mile to an area on the other side of the highway.

“People who didn’t want to leave, I just told them, “I don’t know much more to tell you. Will you please get to the safety zone, because once you leave, I can leave?’ ” Kazaanecki said.

kim.murphy@latimes.com

Times staff writer Thomas H. Maugh II contributed to this report.