Shocking video shows swimmers and sunbathers IGNORING tsunami warning on Hawaii's Waikiki Beach
While some on the iconic beach in Oahu heeded the warning on Tuesday, others were completely unfazed and kept swimming or hanging out on the sand.
An 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami alerts across Hawaii, Alaska and the west coast of the mainland United States.
Some beachgoers who chose to evacuate Waikiki and move deeper into Honolulu were shocked that swimmers chose to possibly put themselves and others at risk by sticking around.
'I went straight home,' Oahu resident Rami Abdallah told Hawaii News Now. 'I just feel like when there's a tsunami warning, people should be very serious about it. They shouldn't think it's a joke because it's life-threatening if it does happen.'
Asher Kwon, another Oahu resident, said he's seen videos of tsunami and agreed that they were 'no joke.'
'Me personally, I wouldn't be on the beach. I felt kind of scared for those people, just in case something did happen,' Kwon added.
Suzanne Lee-Wen, who was visiting the area, said anyone staying on the shore was 'daring.'
'You never know when the swells could've come in, and it was a little dangerous,' Lee-Wen said.
Some residents also criticized those who appeared to be cheering from their high-rise balconies as the first waves were forecast to hit, as many social media videos showed.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the first tsunami warning for Hawaii at about 2:45pm local time on Tuesday.
Waves were expected to hit Kaua'i's north shore first at around 7:10pm and reach the other islands in the state by 7:17pm.
The center then downgraded the initial alert at 10:38pm and assured residents that a major tsunami wasn't coming.
Honolulu only ended up experiencing waves that were about one foot higher than normal sea levels, while Kahului, Maui, saw waves as high as 5.7 feet.
Molly Pierce, the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management public information officer, explained that emergency alerts are timed as 'three hours before wave arrival, two hours before wave arrival, one hour before wave arrival, and then 30 minutes before expected wave arrival.'
All tsunami advisories were canceled in Hawaii on Wednesday afternoon.
'Tsunami wave heights across the state of Hawaii are now below advisory levels and are continuing to diminish,' the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
'Small sea level changes and strong or unusual currents may persist for several additional hours in some coastal areas.'
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