Travel and Adventure by Various Travel Authors

By Sharon Whitley Larsen

"How far is it from here to the nearest evacuation site?"

I was rather startled to overhear this query, especially since I was spending this rainy day browsing exhibits at the Pacific Tsunami Museum in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. But there was no reason to panic; it was just a tourist's curious question.

"It's a two-block, 10-minute walk from here," said Donna Saiki, the museum's executive director.

It doesn't hurt to be prepared, especially with tsunamis witnessed as recently as the terrifying destruction just last year in Japan. This museum in downtown Hilo — "Tsumani Capital" — was founded in 1994 and opened in 2000 in a former First Hawaiian Bank building constructed in 1930. It is crammed with a wealth of information that includes photos, exhibits, newspaper articles, documentaries, items on safety measures, heroic rescues and a video to educate the public on these disasters. There's a Science Room, Tsunami Warning Simulator and Wave Machine, as well as a model display showing Hilo as it was prior to the devastating 1946 tsunami that wiped out much of the shoreline, front street and town center.

"Hilo is synonymous with tsunamis," Saiki told me. "It's in the most vulnerable spot. A tsunami is extremely fast — about 500 mph or more, with wave lengths up to 100 miles. Some people call it a tidal wave, but it has nothing to do with tides. The three characteristics are that it's extremely deep, fast and long.

"Living on these islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean within whose perimeter occur over 90 percent of the earthquakes on our planet means that we are vulnerable to tsunamis from all directions," she added.

Normally tsunamis follow major earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or bigger.

"Tsunamis are a fact of life in Hawaii, especially Hilo," notes the museum's brochure. A tsunami — meaning "great harbor wave" in Japanese — "is a series of waves most commonly caused by violent movements of the sea floor," writes oceanographer, professor and museum co-founder Walt Dudley in his book, "Tsunamis in Hawaii." "And in the Hawaiian Islands tsunamis can also be generated by landslides and volcanic eruptions."

Although there hasn't been a major tsunami in Hilo for decades, some of the older locals still vividly recall the most devastating one that was followed by the Aleutian Islands' 7.8 earthquake on April Fool's Day in 1946. It was the worst natural disaster to occur in Hawaii, killing 159 on the islands, including 96 in Hilo. Nearly 500 homes and businesses were destroyed and another 1,000 severely damaged. Its Main Street looked like a war zone.

At the small village of Laupahoehoe, just 25 miles north, 24 were killed, including 16 students and four teachers.

Prior to that year, "We lived and worked right down to the water," said Saiki. "During a tsunami, people usually misread the first wave; the water recedes, the ocean floor is exposed, the sea life stranded. People are curious and stick around when they should leave. You can save yourself if you take quick action."

In 1948 an official tsunami warning system was launched, and over the years, improvements have been made with better technology. However, in 1960, following the largest earthquake ever measured — 9.5 in Chile — another tsunami tragedy occurred here, killing 61, with $50 million damage. (It also killed 122 in Japan.) Despite warnings and a plea from the governor, curious residents remained at the shoreline during the night to see what was going to happen.

Although warned, some didn't seem to know what to do or where to go.

And that's what this museum seeks to do: educate.

"Tsunamis can occur at any time with little or no warning," notes the brochure.

It's important that people realize that immediately following a major earthquake and tsunami warning they need to move "at least 100 feet above sea level or two miles inland," notes Dudley in another book (with Scott C.S. Stone), "The Tsunami of 1946 and 1960 and the Devastation of Hilo Town." He adds, "If this is impossible, go to the third floor or higher of a reinforced concrete building." More advice: Climb a tree, onto something that floats or onto a roof.

Over the past century, there have been more than a dozen tsunamis in Hawaii (one every seven years average). More than half of them were deadly, resulting in 291 deaths. In 2010, when Chile experienced an 8.8 earthquake, Hawaiians had 15 hours' notice to evacuate. Last year Japan's devastating earthquake also put Hawaii on alert, and the resulting tsunami caused major damage in Kona on the other side of the Big Island.

The idea for this museum, which has some 18,000 annual visitors, came from Jeanne Branch Johnston, who was only 6 when the 1946 tsunami occurred.

"We just cleaned up and went on with our lives," she says in the documentary "Raging Sea," which is shown in the museum's small Vault Theater. "We never really talked about it, but that day changed everybody forever." Hers is one of several first-person accounts shared in the moving commentary.

The museum also serves as a living memorial to those who lost their lives in tsunamis. In its various small, crammed rooms visitors can spend several hours poring over photos, reading about devastating tsunamis worldwide, doing hands-on activities, participating in interactive displays, absorbing dramatic first-person accounts and learning about the history of tsunamis. One exhibit portrays the horrifying 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that followed a 9.0 earthquake; a most recent addition documents 2011's 8.9 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

For those with a car who wish to explore further, a free brochure is available that contains information and directions for a driving or nearby walking tour of various tsunami sites (with survivors' stories). These include Laupahoehoe Point, Wailuku River, Shinmachi Memorial, Wailoa Bridge, Coconut Island and Port of Hilo. Also included is the site of the Waiakea Kai Clock, which shows time frozen at 1:04, eerily marking the moment on May 23, 1960, when the devastating tsunami hit here in the early morning hour.

"We share the tsunami stories and sites with you on this East Hawaii Tsunami Corridor because they are such an important part of the fabric of the lives of those who live here," Saiki said.

Ironically, the first meeting planned to organize the museum, on Oct. 4, 1994, had to be postponed — because of a tsunami warning.

WHEN YOU GO

The Pacific Tsunami Museum is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. General admission is $8, $7 for seniors and $4 for children. Children under 5 are free. A little gift shop sells books and other items related to tsunamis: www.tsunami.org.

Sharon Whitley Larsen is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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