OKINAWA, Japan - Japan suffered only minor flooding and no injuries Sunday despite predictions of massive tsunami waves spawned by Chile’s earthquake that forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people - including thousands of U.S. military personnel - on mainland Japan and Okinawa.
Japanese officials downgraded their tsunami warning alert at about 7 p.m., but officials said there was still the possibility of 6 and 1/2-foot high tidal swells along the east coast. The off-base evacuation orders were still in effect late Sunday night.
The biggest swell - at nearly four feet - occurred at 3:49 p.m. about 50 miles south of Misawa Air Base at the port of Kuji, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Early Sunday morning, officials warned that waves as high as 10 feet could hit that area on the northeast tip of the main island of Honshu, home to the air base. Japanese officials ordered more than 8,000 people in Misawa city, and nearby Oirase, to evacuate. U.S. Air Force officials said that only eight rental properties in the evacuation area - east of Route 338 - were registered to American families.
Nearly 220,000 people - including thousands of Department of Defense personnel on several U.S. base housing areas - were ordered to evacuate to higher ground on Okinawa shortly after 1 p.m., with predictions of a six-foot tsunami that officials feared would sweep over the low-lying island shortly after 3 p.m.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the military residents were allowed to return to their homes after the predictions came up empty.
The biggest wave to hit Okinawa was recorded at Miyako - an outlying island 180 miles south of Naha. The Okinawa Meteorological Agency reported a 7.5 inch tsunami there at 6:02 p.m.
The warnings and evacuation orders on Okinawa didn’t have much off-base impact, with people gathering on the sea walls and beaches to watch for the tsunami. Shops and roads in the low-level coastal “danger zones” remained open throughout the day.
U.S. Marine spokesman 1st Lt. John Norton said the evacuation of U.S. military personnel went smoothly.
“It took only 75 minutes from the time of informing people of the evacuation order to confirming everyone had been evacuated,” he said.
Air Force officials at the 18th Wing on Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, wrote that “the tsunami largely fizzled out,” in a news release late Sunday. “There were no reports of damage or injuries on the island as a result of the tsunami”.
However, water conditions on Okinawa were still deemed to be unsafe.
“Danger to boats and coastal structures can continue for several hours due to rapid currents,” according to the Air Force release. “As a result the sea condition around the island remains red, and personnel are urged to stay out of the water until at least (Monday)”.
Japanese officials closed several highways - including the Aqua Line in Tokyo, the Sanriku Expressway in Sendai and the Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka, according to transportation officials.
Several railroad lines also were closed. There were no flight delays reported across Japan.
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