Tsunami Warning, Then Some Trails to the State Park

On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 6am, we were awakened by civil defense sirens, followed by an announcement over the building intercom that this was not a drill. Then at 6:15am, my parents called from California to make sure we were awake. Actually, I had known about the impending tsunami since the night before, since I'd been up watching the Olympics.

The tsunami was expected to arrive in Honolulu at 11:37am. Check out this cool map that shows the earthquake in Chile and predicts how the potential tsunami would radiate outward.

Map from NOAA

Brad and I topped off the gas tank in my car and then went to Safeway to stock up. Combining our existing emergency supplies with our newly-purchased food, we felt pretty prepared and sat on the lanai to watch and wait.

First, we saw all the boats leaving the harbor. Pretty cool - I've never seen so many boats out on the water.

From 11:30am to 1:30pm, we saw about 4 'waves.' The water would go out and expose a large part of the reef at Ala Moana Beach Park. Then the water would come back in and cover the reef. Then the cycle would start again. Usually when the water going out and coming in is due to the tide, it takes a long time to expose/cover the reef. But from the tsunami, it happened much faster - in a few minutes. And there was only 20 minutes between the water going out and the water coming back in.

This time-lapse video from KHON shows the water at Ala Moana coming in and going back out (CNN mislabeled it as Hilo).



Luckily, there wasn't much impact of the tsunami in Hawaii (or elsewhere). And after the tsunami warning was cancelled, I went on with my plans to run up at Peacock Flats. However, my car had other ideas and freaked out on the freeway, so I had to turn around and go home. Later Brad drove us up to Tantalus, and we went for a run to the State Park. The lookout was still full of people, who had gone up there for a high vantage point for the tsunami.

http://connect.garmin.com/player/26102539
1. In the map image on the Garmin site, select the "Hybrid" box
2. Press the "Play" button

Sat, 2/27/10
Start: Nature Center
Trails: Hogsback - Ualakaa (to State Park & back) - Makiki Valley (to Moleka & back) - Makiki Valley - Kanealole
1:12 / 4.3 miles / 16:42 avg