Tsunami tweets: Social media credited for helping evacuation of up to 50,000 people in Hawaii

Social media helped with Hawaii tsunami evacuation

HONOLULU — Tweets and other forms of social networking helped create a relatively smooth evacuation of as many as 50,000 people on Oahu as a tsunami raced toward Hawaii.

Honolulu Emergency Management Department spokesman John Cummings says digital networking got the word out quickly after Saturday’s tsunami was generated by the earthquake in Chile.

Cummings says people communicated through Facebook, Twitter and texting to let each other know what was going on. He says they responded quickly and smoothly, doing what they needed to do to get themselves out of harm’s way.

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center geophysicist Brian Shiro estimates he sent 500 tweets during the evacuation.

He says digital communication is a good way to keep the community informed.

Information from: The Honolulu Advertiser, www.honoluluadvertiser.com