Is Hong Kong safe from tsunamis after waves from Russian quake cause ‘anomaly’?

A tsunami triggered by a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula on Wednesday prompted warnings and evacuations in Japan, Hawaii and the US West Coast.

The Hong Kong Observatory also told the public on the same day that the tsunami would reach the city in the late afternoon. A “sea-level anomaly of around seven centimetres” was recorded by the forecaster later in the day.

The Post explores why the impact of the tsunami is limited in Hong Kong and provides tips on how you can keep yourself safe from such extreme weather occurrences.

1. Was Hong Kong affected by the earthquake-triggered tsunami?

The tsunami heights of the first couple of waves reaching Hong Kong on Wednesday were “too low to be observed” until the Shek Pik tide station recorded a sea-level anomaly of around 7cm (2.8 inches) at around 6.40pm, possibly due to “the arrival of subsequent tsunami waves”, according to the Observatory.

David Hui Tai-wai, the observatory’s acting senior scientific officer, told a radio show that the tsunami waves did not widely impact Hong Kong and had already passed the city, as of Thursday morning.

Although the city was mildly affected by the tsunami, two sushi chain restaurants announced on Thursday that they would stop serving products with yellowtail and red sea bream as the import of the two fish was disrupted due to the tsunami in Japan.

Both chains, Sugidama and Sushiro in Hong Kong, said they would replace the two fish with salmon in relevant products.

On Wednesday, the runway closure of Sendai Airport in Japan under the tsunami warning caused an HK Express flight, which departed from Hong Kong for Sendai on Wednesday morning, to be diverted to Tokyo Narita Airport.