Aussie footballers await wave all-clear

A major 7.7 magnitude earthquake has rocked the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of Canada.

MEMBERS of a Queensland indigenous rugby league team are holed up in an Hawaiian evacuation centre awaiting tsunami updates.

Two of Arthur Beetson's sons are with the team at Kaiser High School, on the island of Oahu, where they've been advised to stay until the severity is known of the tsunami generated by an earthquake in Canada.

The team - captained by former Brisbane Bronco Ian Lacey and consisting mostly of Queensland Cup players - had earlier played a Hawaiian All Stars team at the high school, which is on the side of a hill.

Rugby league writer Steve Mascord is with the team and he described the players as relaxed about the unfolding situation.

"They had music on and they were dancing (but) now they're starting to get a little bored," Mascord told AAP.

"There was talk of going to a pub nearby ... There's certainly no real alarm."

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued an alert for all Hawaiian islands on Saturday night (Sunday AEDT), hours after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked an island off Canada's west coast.

Tad Kanski of Newport Beach, California unties his family's sailboat moored at the Ala Wai Harbor after learning of a tsunami warning. Picture: AP

Officials downgraded the tsunami warning to an advisory at 10.25pm (AEDT).

Mascord said the Australian consul-general to Hawaii was at the game and advised the players to remain at the school until the conditions became clearer.

"Kaiser High School is a safe zone, so this is where people will come if there is trouble, so the boys are pretty relaxed about that," Mascord said.

"There are roads closed, and the bottom floors of hotels in Waikiki have been evacuated.

"But apparently people are still shopping in Waikiki, so we're just waiting for more news and hoping we can return to our hotels."

The players are travelling with the Arthur Beetson Foundation as part of a 39-person party, which includes the rugby league legend's sons as well as tribal dancers who performed before the game.

The quake hit Canada near the Gwaii Haanas region.

The Queenslanders won 70-8 against the Hawaiian All Stars, who themselves were coached by former North Queensland Cowboy Cory Paterson.

The first waves of a tsunami hitting Hawaii on Saturday night (7.28pm AEDT Sunday Australian time) were smaller than expected nearly three hours after evacuations were ordered for coastal areas threatened after a powerful earthquake off the coast of Canada.

A geologist tracking for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, Gerard Fryer, said the largest wave in the first 45 minutes of the tsunami was measured at 1.5 metres in Maui.

A wave of up to two metres had been predicted, as tens of thousands fled coastal areas.

"We expect more waves to follow, and that can go on for hours," Victor Sardina, a spokesman for the warning centre told DPA.

Along the coast of northern California and south Oregon a 67cm-high wave was recorded, he said.

Erica Avegalio, centre, and her brother Albert Avegalio, right, load up on water and food at the Times Supermarket after learning of the tsunami threat. Picture: AP

The measurement was taken at Arena Cove. There were no immediate reports of damage.

Initially, officials said Hawaii wasn't in any danger of a tsunami after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the western coast of Canada.

However residents were later advised to evacuate coastal areas, with warning sirens sounding across the islands.

Residents were fleeing inland, causing traffic chaos in Honolulu, media reports said.

Broadcaster CNN said Honolulu mayor Peter Carlisle called on residents to leave their cars, find a building and make their way to the highest floors. The situation was "very, very dangerous", he said.

About 80,000 people live in the evacuation zone in Oahu, where Honolulu is located.

Lyndon Fong of Honolulu fills up his gas tank after learning of the tsunami warning. Picture: AP

"It's not just one wave, it's a succession of waves," Fryer was quoted as saying by CNN.

"The following waves, I am sure, will be bigger."

The centre had said the tsunami waves could wrap around the islands so all shores were at risk.

The warning was issued after the earthquake struck off the Queen Charlotte Islands late on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

Hawaiian officials were adamant that timely warnings were about all they would be able to do, and execution of evacuation plans depended on individuals themselves.

"We have done everything we can to get the information out," Carlisle said.

"Everybody is getting out. You can't rely on the police because they are being pulled out, too."

Fryer said quakes exceeding magnitude 7.0 should not be taken lightly.

"A 7.7 is a big, hefty earthquake. It's not something you can ignore," said the geophysicist.

He said it had struck partly under an island, but mostly under shallow water.

"I think we have to be thankful it happened where it did," Fryer said. "If that were a heavily populated area, it would have caused significant damage."

The earthquake reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Aussie footballers await wave all-clear

Dengan url

http://duniasikasik.blogspot.com/2012/10/aussie-footballers-await-wave-all-clear.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Aussie footballers await wave all-clear

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Aussie footballers await wave all-clear

sebagai sumbernya