The emergency authorities of Chile, El Salvador and Guatemala issued this Thursday (03.04.2021) a alert for the Pacific coastfor “minor” tsunami risk following the magnitude 8.1 earthquake near New Zealand.
In Chile, the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy (SHOA) declared a “State of Precaution” which, according to the scale of risks managed by this body, “indicates the possibility of a minor tsunami”, which means that people who are on the coastline, on the beach, will have to evacuate.
The official Onemi account on Twitter reported that “since it is an event generated in the far field” this tsunami would be between “30 centimeters to one meter, approximately”and could be perceived from 01:00 am local time this Friday (04:00 GMT) on Easter Island and 04:00 (08:00 GMT) on the mainland.
For their part, the Guatemalan civil protection authorities issued a tsunami alert on the country’s coast to the Pacific Ocean, which could receive “waves up to 30 centimeters high” this Friday morning, for which reason the population was advised to “stay away from the coastline” during the early morning “due to the possible rise in sea level”.
El Salvador also alerted its population on Thursday of a slight tsunami threat after forecasting “fluctuations in the mean sea level of less than 30 centimeters” and that the impact is expected to be “low”for which reason the population was recommended to take “precaution for the development of recreational activities”, such as “swimming, fishing, diving, surfing and sailing in boats”.
Peru also joined the alert generated by the tsunami warningAlthough without an order to evacuate, it is monitoring the situation on its Pacific coast.
In Nicaragua, the authorities issued the alert warning that “waves could be produced above the usual behavior of the tides” Therefore, “it is recommended that the population living in the Pacific coastal areas refrain from circulating on the beaches, not bathing in the sea in the early hours of the morning; fishermen, especially artisanal ones, are advised not to begin work tasks until second notice”.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) detected an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale north of New Zealand, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami warning affecting the islands of Hawaii.
According to the USGS, the earthquake had its epicenter in the Kermandec Islands and occurred at 19:28 GMT on Thursday. The US tsunami warning center issued warnings for possible tsunamis in Guam, the Cook Islands and Hawaii. In New Zealand, where no damage was reported, thousands of people were evacuated.