Tsunami advisory for Hawaii after 8.3 Chile quake

Associated Press

honolulu

Hawaii is under a tsunami advisory after a magnitude-8.3 earthquake off the coast of north Chile.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center originally had issued a watch, saying a tsunami may have been generated by Wednesday’s earthquake. They later downgraded the alert to an advisory, saying that current data indicated there would be no major tsunami in the state, but that sea-level changes and dangerous currents could pose a threat to those in or near the water.

The center estimated that the effects from the tsunami would arrive about 3 a.m. today.

The powerful earthquake shook Chile’s capital, causing buildings to sway and people to take refuge in the streets. Several strong aftershocks hit within minutes as tsunami alarms sounded in the nearby port of Valparaiso. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but authorities said some adobe houses collapsed in the inland city of Illapel, about 175 miles north of Santiago.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at a preliminary magnitude of 7.9, but it quickly revised the reading upward to 8.3.

A watch means that a tsunami is possible, but it doesn’t mean it will happen, said Chevy Chevalier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

“A watch is for everybody to be aware of it, that it’s a possibility,” he said. “A warning means it’s happening right now or it’s imminent.”