Kiwis have been told to remain alert for 'strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore'.
Despite little tsunami effects so far, Hawke’s Bay residents are still being encouraged to stay away from the water.
A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka coast on Wednesday, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific.
Emergency mobile alerts hit smartphones across Hawke’s Bay about4pm on Wednesday, again just after midnight and at 6.30am on Thursday, warning people to stay out of the water.
Despite this, many surfers were out at Te Awanga on Wednesday afternoon and evening, making the most of a decent swell.
One surfer, who asked not to be named, wasn’t fazed by the warning.
“I wouldn’t be out here if I didn’t feel safe,” he said.
The Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Facebook page shared a message at 6am on Thursday, reminding people there was no need to evacuate, not to return to boats unless instructed to by officials, and that tsunami activity had already started to hit parts of New Zealand.
Coastguard Hawke’s Bay president Henry van Tuel said local boaties took heed of the tsunami warnings and the Coastguard didn’t receive any requests for assistance.
Van Tuel was at the Coastguard headquarters on Meeanee Quay to check the boats about 6am on Thursday, where he noticed that the tide was a little higher than expected.
“So I think there’s a bit of an effect, but there doesn’t seem to be too many unusual water movements.
“The water looks reasonably calm, but the trouble is that can change very, very quickly.”
He said the Napier marina area was “really, really quiet”.
“It looks like people are heeding the warnings to stay clear of the seashore, so it’s really good.”
Van Tuel’s advice for anyone thinking about heading out on the water over the coming days is to stay across what Nema (National Emergency Management Agency) is saying, and he is regularly updating the Coastguard Hawke’s Bay Facebook page as alerts come in.
“Although the official warnings might reduce, you don’t know what sort of lingering effects may take place.
“So treat the sea with quite a bit of caution for the next couple of days.”
Chief operating officer at Napier Port, Adam Harvey, said the port has been monitoring the tsunami advisory, and as a precautionary measure, vessel operations were suspended overnight, with ships taken to sea.
After further assessments on Thursday morning, the port now has a “good understanding” of the nature of the residual risk.
“This is considered to be low impact for Napier Port and comparable to the long-period wave conditions we regularly manage,” Harvey said.
“As a result, Napier Port will resume normal shipping operations from 10am today.”
Waves hit the boat ramp at Clifton Motor Camp at high tide during the tsunami advisory. Photo / Robyn Wellwood-King
Clifton Motor Camp manager Robyn Wellwood-King said waves were coming up the boat ramp an hour before high tide, something that is typical during high tide.
“It’s different than normal here this morning,” she said.
“Bigger waves than normal.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier.
