The National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) in collaboration with the National Weather Service Office in Koror has issued an official tsunami warning in Palau on 3:30 Sunday morning. “The expected time of arrival of the Tsunami will be on Sunday at 1:30 pm,” the official announcement stated.
NEMO further informed everyone to be on standby to evacuate to higher grounds.
The tsunami can cause waves of up to eight feet.
As of 9 a.m.on Sunday, however, NEMO has lifted the tsunami warning.“The Tsunami Warning issued to Palau on February 27has been cancelled. There is no threat of a tsunami to Palau as of this time.”
The National Emergency Management Committee headed by Vice President Kerai Mariur was re-activated to prepare for evacuation.
Mariur said the NEMO office was opened Saturday night until Sunday to receive questions from the residents.
“NEMO has been receiving calls. Residents were asking information if they need to buy food,” Mariur said.
He said the committee was drawing up plans to evacuate people living near the coastlines. One of the evacuation priorities are patients at the Belau National Hospital which is situated near the coastline.
News and tsunami warnings on TV also prompted friends and families to keep in touch with each other. Sailing trips and diving schedules were put on hold.
Liveaboards were also informed about the warning.
“I issued instructions this morning to cancel our operations. We contacted all our guests and told them that until further notice, things are cancelled,” said Dermot Keane, manager of Sam’s Tours. He added that they had started preparing to evacuate. They even had sandbags ready.
Some residents in New Zealand had evacuated to higher grounds. Tidal surges along the coasts in Hawaii were also observed on Saturday but there were no reports of damage or injuries.
Minutes after NEMO has lifted the tsunami warning, diving operations have resumed. “We are on the process of resuming operations right now,” Keane assured.
It can be recalled that one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in history occurred in Chile (with a magnitude of 9.5) in 1960. It triggered one of the most devastating Pacific-wide tsunamis, measuring as high as 25 meters. The incident killed at least 200 people, destroyed more than 130,000 houses, and left some 2,000,000 people homeless.
