A tsunami triggered by a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula on Wednesday prompted warnings and evacuations in Japan, Hawaii and the US West Coast.
The Hong Kong Observatory also told the public on the same day that the tsunami would reach the city in the late afternoon. A “sea-level anomaly of around 7cm” (2.8 inches) was recorded by the forecaster later in the day.
The Post explores why the impact of the tsunami was limited in Hong Kong and provides tips on how you can keep yourself safe from such extreme weather occurrences.
1. Was Hong Kong affected by the tsunami?
The first couple of waves of the tsunami reaching Hong Kong on Wednesday were “too low to be observed” until the Shek Pik tide station recorded a sea-level anomaly of around 7cm at around 6.40pm, possibly due to “the arrival of subsequent tsunami waves”, according to the Observatory.
David Hui Tai-wai, the observatory’s acting senior scientific officer, told a radio show that the tsunami waves did not widely impact Hong Kong and had already passed the city as of Thursday morning.
However, two sushi chain restaurants announced on Thursday that they would stop serving products with yellowtail and red sea bream as the import of the two types of fish was disrupted due to the tsunami in Japan.
Both chains, Sugidama and Sushiro in Hong Kong, said they would replace the items with salmon in relevant products.
On Wednesday morning, an HK Express flight which departed from Hong Kong for Sendai was diverted to Tokyo Narita Airport after Sendai Airport closed its runway in the wake of the tsunami warning.
