Honolulu
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Wednesday evening in Waikiki ended in classic Hawaiian style, with a stunning red, orange and gold sunset, children laughing and splashing in waves lapping at the shore – and parents sipping cocktails from plastic cups.
But just a day earlier, the mood was starkly different. A massive, 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula – tied for the sixth-strongest quake ever recorded – had triggered tsunami alerts across the Pacific.
The alerts sparked frantic evacuation efforts in Hawaii, where many recall the horror of the catastrophic tsunamis that caused unimaginable damage and untold loss of life around the Indian Ocean in 2004 and in Japan in 2011.
On Tuesday, residents and tourists were taking no chances.
“It’s crazy … everyone is evacuating all at the same time,” said one tourist in a viral TikTok clip, capturing the chaos as crowds rushed for higher ground. Sirens blared. Rain drizzled. Panic spread.
While some ran, others were stranded. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America was among the vessels that left port early to escape the looming threat. Jeffery Booker, a passenger from Orlando, missed the cruise ship’s hasty departure.
“One of the tour operators said, ‘Get back to the ship as fast as you can,’” he recalled. “But we knew we weren’t gonna make it.”
The tsunami advisory was lifted for all of the Hawaiian Islands as of 8:58 a.m. Wednesday local time, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center – and the ship returned to port. Cheers and hugs greeted those reboarding.
From her lofty hotel balcony, Jenny Massey, visiting from California, had watched it all unfold. “We stayed on the 28th floor all night,” she said. “We were nervous, just looking down at the empty beach, watching the sirens go off.”
Massey, a former University of Hawaii student, said the aftermath of the experience felt surreal. “We love Waikiki … It’s wild to see people back out like nothing happened.”
Her son Brandon was less shaken: “We get to swim at the beach now. The waves are really big. It’s funner.”
Zi Glucksman, a college student from New York staying on Oahu for the month, had stocked up on supplies with friends. “We stayed calm,” he said. “Now the beach is full again. It’s kind of amazing.”
Behind the scenes, the US Coast Guard was on high alert. Capt. Nicholas Worst, who commands Sector Honolulu, described a swift, strategic response.
“We moved cutters, boats, and aircraft out of the harbor right away,” he said. “We had to be ready. For search and rescue, pollution control, anything.”
He emphasized the stakes. “Ninety-eight percent of Hawaii’s goods come in by sea. The ports are our lifeline.”
One of the most striking stories came from Doan Trang, a surfer and mom from Dana Point, California. When the sirens started, she grabbed her son, checked an evacuation map, and started walking uphill, continuing for nearly two hours.
“We weren’t panicked, but we knew we had to move,” she said. “Once we crossed the bridge and saw the tsunami zone sign behind us, I felt peace.”
They waited out the advisory at a Vietnamese restaurant. She says the authorities did a good job warning everybody. “Because you do have to warn people. You know, the Thailand and everything in 2004. It’s a big thing.”
After the advisory was lifted, beaches reopened. But authorities still urged caution, saying strong currents may linger.
Trang returned to the water, exhausted but thankful. “I watched the waves and thought, wow … what a night,” she said.
“Could have been a lot worse. It could have been a lot of damage. And you know how it would’ve affected an area like this – but it didn’t.”
By the time sunset came 24 hours later, Waikiki had bounced back. Droves of tourists splashed in the surf. Children built sandcastles and couples posed by the iconic Duke Kahanamoku statue.
Hawaii had weathered a tsunami. And everyone woke up to another day in paradise.
