Massive 8.8 Earthquake In Russia Triggers Tsunami Warnings Across The Pacific: Live Updates

Hawaii Governor Josh Green urged residents to evacuate coastal areas and to avoid beaches at all costs as the state braces for tsunami landfall around 7:10pm local time.

“Everyone has to be away from the shoreline,” he emphasized in a briefing on Tuesday. “It is not a regular wave, it will actually kill you.”

Hawaii is facing a Tsunami Warning following an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off of Russia’s eastern coast, and authorities are calling on residents in affected areas to seek shelter inland or at higher ground as soon as they can.

“That is the most serious warning that you can have … which means we have to evacuate the coastal zones right away,” Green said.

He noted that residents should expect two more sirens, about one hour before the tsunami is projected to hit and about thirty minutes prior to that time.

Green said he believed people would have “adequate time” to reach safer locations in the interim and was optimistic that the state could avoid fatalities if residents followed authorities’ guidance.

For people unable to leave coastal areas, Green said that going up four stories in a building could serve as a vertical evacuation.

“You can expect a tsunami wave to hit the state and it will not just hit one beach, it will wrap around the islands very likely,” he said, adding that flooding would probably be imminent.

Green warned residents not to leave secure areas until they receive an all-clear from regional officials after the tsunami makes landfall.