| |
TOKYO: Japanese authorities warned of a tsunami risk across wide areas of the Pacific after a major earthquake struck Chile Saturday, with US geologists saying the risk extended as far as the Antarctic.
Asian nations are highly sensitive to any tsunami risk following the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004 that left over 220,000 people dead.
In the Philippines, which has seen a series of devastating natural disasters over the past year, authorities warned coastal communities in the east of the archipelago to prepare for possible evacuation.
An official for Japan's meteorological agency said: "There is a possibility that tsunami will widely occur in the Pacific Ocean. We are now checking if the tsunami may hit Japanese coastal areas."
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Chile early Saturday local time.
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the quake had generated a tsunami and that parts of Central and South America could be at risk.
The centre's bulletin said a tsunami watch was also in effect for more distant areas, including Antarctica and the Pitcairn islands and French Polynesia in the southern Pacific.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said Chile's quake could generate a destructive tsunami that could reach the western Pacific.
"No evacuation order is in effect but communities along the east coast of the country are advised to wait for further information and to prepare for possible evacuation," the institute said.
"Coastal areas fronting the Pacific Ocean... should keep watch," the institute said.
However, New Zealand's Civil Defence Ministry said the country was not at risk of a tsunami as a result of the Chilean quake, Radio New Zealand reported.
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama ordered his government to be prepared to offer support for victims if necessary, Jiji Press reported.
"I told ministries concerned to be ready to take measures in case relief assistance is needed," Hatoyama told reporters.
Earlier in the day, Japan's Okinawa island was hit by its biggest seismic jolt in more than half a century when a powerful earthquake struck, triggering minor tsunamis but causing only minor injuries and small amounts of damage.
- AFP/yb
|
