Japan warns of Pacific tsunami risk after Chile quake
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's meteorological agency warned on Saturday of a tsunami risk across large areas of the Pacific as US geologists said the risk extended as far as the Antarctic after Chile's massive earthquake.
"There is a possibility that tsunami will widely occur in the Pacific Ocean," an official for the Japanese agency said. "We are now checking if tsunami may hit Japanese coastal areas."
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Chile early Saturday.
The United States Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake had generated a tsunami and that parts of Central and South America could be at risk in subsequent hours along with more distant locations, including in Antarctica.
Asian nations have been on heightened alert ever since a massive 2004 tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people around the Indian Ocean.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama ordered his government to be prepared to offer support for victims if necessary, Jiji Press reported.
"Swift action should be required," Hatoyama told reporters. "It appears to be fairly sizable. I told ministries concerned to be ready to take measures in case relief assistance is needed."
Earlier in the day, Japan's Okinawa island was hit by its biggest seismic jolt in more than half a century when a powerful earthquake struck, triggering minor tsunamis, but only small amounts of damage to housing and minor injuries
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