Japan bracing for up to 3-metre tsunami

TOKYO - The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that a “major” tsunami of up to 3 metres could hit Japan’s Pacific coast in the next few hours Sunday following a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake overnight in Chile.

The agency issued the “major” tsunami warning Sunday morning for its entire Pacific coast, urging people in the areas to head immediately to higher ground.

The agency projected that the tsunami could reach Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island, and Izu-Ogasawara islands around 1 p.m. (0400 GMT) Sunday and later in the rest of the areas under warning.

The agency also warned that waves of as high as 2 meters could hit along the rest of the Pacific coast, as well as the coastal areas of the Sea of Japan in Aomori Prefecture and of Okinawa, subtropical island about 1,500 km southwest of Tokyo.

The alert prompted major trains in northeastern coastal areas and near Tokyo to halt services. The Japan Coast Guard urged ships operating in the coastal areas to evacuate.

Yasuo Sekita, chief of the weather agency’s earthquake and tsunami observation section, said the agency might have to keep the warnings in place indefinitely because “the second and third waves could be bigger than the first waves”.

In May 1960, a major tsunami struck the coasts of Japan’s northern island Hokkaido and northern Pacific coastal areas after a powerful magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Chile, leaving around 140 people dead or missing.