Tsunami warning recap

Roughly 22 hours after the first wave hit us, things are calming down in our area. Unfortunately I don't think the same could be said for Japan, as it is still being rocked by aftershocks and it just had an explosion at a nuclear power plant. If you feel so inclined, please pray for the safety of those affected.

Here's how things went on my end over the past 24 (or so) hours:

Was hanging out with carson10us for most of the day, spending part of the evening at Petco Pearl Highlands before getting food at Big Kahuna's then heading over to Dole Theater to catch a movie. The earthquake apparently hit Japan around 7:45pm Hawaii time (0546Z) but we never heard anything on the radio station in the restaurant before we left Big Kahuna's at 8:30pm.

Got to the theater, got the tickets and went inside. Movie was supposed to start around 9pm, and from what I heard the Civil Defense sirens first sounded on-island around that time. We didn't hear or notice anything inside the theater, however.

About 20 minutes or so into the movie my phone starts ringing (well, vibrating actually... yes, I put my phone on vibrate during movies). Decided to ignore it because I didn't want to interrupt anyone else's enjoyment of the movie (there were a few other people in the theater).

Phone rings again about 10-15 minutes later, then again some 20 minutes later. Finally I get some kind of text message but didn't want to check it until after the movie since I didn't really want to miss any part of the movie.

As soon as the end credits start rolling I check my phone and get araquan's text message about an approaching tsunami. carson10us apparently has received a message during the movie as well, and we decide to head out immediately. Normally I like to stay through the entire end credits but this was an emergency.

We head to the lobby, where I hear the high-speed oven that's used to make pizzas going. It sounds like a hair dryer but could theoretically also sound like a Civil Defense siren. As we head out to the elevators, though, I don't hear anything.

We get to the car and I make a few phone calls to determine what's going on. While I'm a bit apprehensive over the whole situation, part of me is also relieved, because I was worried that perhaps something had happened to technocollie, who was hospitalized last month. So yeah, my reaction is partly, "Good, it's only a tsunami warning," and partly, "Tsunami warning, get away from the coastlines!"

I give ionotter a heads up as well, let him know I'm safe but have to drop carson10us off at Pearl Harbor before I head home. But the main thing is that I'm outside an inundation zone so I'll be fine.

As I approach the base's main gate, I hear the sirens go off at the same time I can hear one in the background as the radio station interviews a geologist outside the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (which, ironically, is in an inundation zone). I already decide that there's no way I can realistically get any sleep until after the final sirens sound half an hour before the first wave is supposed to arrive, so I head home and wait in the car until the sirens sound (that's when I take the video that I posted to youtube).

After the sirens sound, I go in the house and put the news on while also monitoring the internet. I also kick around the idea of heading to work early (I'm working a day shift, from 5am to 5pm) in case the roads around the work center have to be closed, but after checking the inundation zone maps I decide to wait since my planned route is fine.

I post like crazy to Facebook, FA and here. mi1ez posts on KSSK-FM radio's FB page and gets mentioned on the radio (still dunno how ya did that dude. :) At this point I'm pretty much going on adrenalin, and it isn't until after the sirens sound for the final time that I'm able to actually get a katnap in. My neighborhood is pretty quiet, so when you hear Civil Defense sirens, especially at night, it's pretty scary. I'm not even able to sleep through that sound during the day when they do the monthly test as it is.

First wave hits around 3am, but the news isn't reporting anything. I finally get my katnap in around 3:30-ish and wake up half an hour later to hear reports that wave heights varied in different locations around the state... some places had almost nothing, others saw some fairly decent surges. No widespread inundation, though, and all major roads on Oahu outside of the inundation zones are open.

Head to work around 4:15 and see a couple of freeway signs enroute that say, "TSUNAMI WARNING TURN ON RADIO" (as if I really needed to be reminded). The rest of the morning was pretty blah, as I was monitoring the warning from work. The warning was downgraded to an advisory around 7:30am and cancelled a few hours later.

Staying calm is the easy part since I'm not in an inundation zone. But I can imagine what must have been happening out there near the beaches last night.