Thousands living provinces facing the Pacific Ocean evacuated their homes early Sunday hours before a tsunami from a major quake near Chile was expected to arrive, officials said. Officials said the evacuations were orderly, with authorities saying that the waves were not expected to be higher than one meter. In the popular surfing destination of Siargao on the eastern coast of Mindanao island to the south, about 10,000 people have relocated to safer areas, said Office of the Civil Defense regional director Blanche Gobenciong. “Many of them walked to fields further inland, while others sought higher ground,” provincial police chief Gilbert Cruz said. In the province of Albay meanwhile, authorities said they had informed over 47,000 families living along the coast to move about five kilometres away from the shore just hours after the 8.8 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Chile Saturday. Some had started moving Sunday morning, although it appeared there was no immediate danger, provincial governor Joey Salceda said. “The most important thing is that for people not to panic. We have prepared all our local government units since last night,” Salceda said over DZBB radio in Manila. Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said the first waves would hit the coasts of 19 provinces on the archipelago's eastern seaboard Sunday afternoon. Solidum said the waves will likely continue for several hours, and advised small fishing vessels not to venture out to sea, and for the public not to go to the beaches to watch the swells. While issuing the alert, Solidum noted that the tsunami that hit Hawaii after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Chile Saturday did not cause any major damage there. Other government officials said that people should remain calm and no forced evacuation was in effect. “We are advising everyone to stay away from the shoreline. But there is no need to panic,” said Glen Rabonza, executive director of the Office of Civil Defense, in Manila. The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands with many people living in communities close to the sea. Sunday afternoon, state volcanologists lifted the tsunami warning in the absence of unusual, significant sea level changes near the country's coasts in front of the Pacific Ocean. In its 3:15 P.M. advisory, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said initial waves had been small and most of the Pacific islands already in its path had been spared damage. Phivolcs issued tsunami alert level 1 Saturday and elevated the warning to the second level Sunday morning, advising the public to be on the lookout for “unusual waves” near the coast. Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum rejected criticisms the agency had overreacted to the tsunami threat. “It is the response that matters most,” he told ANC. Villagers living near the Philippines' eastern coast were advised to move to higher ground, as the Phivolcs warned of waves as high as a meter between 1 P.M. and 2:30 P.M. Despite assurances from Phivolcs of no immediate danger, National Police head Director-General Jesus Verzosa ordered all police unit commanders to form local disaster coordinating committees in 19 provinces. In Butuan City, about 14,900 residents from nine coastal municipalities facing the Pacific Ocean in the Caraga region started leaving their homes towards higher ground as early as Saturday night due to tsunami fear. The earthquake in Chile was far stronger than that of Haiti last month, but the death toll only ran in the hundreds compared with Haiti's about 220,000. One of the possible reasons, officials said, was that Chile is wealthier and was better prepared, with strict building building codes, robust emergency response and a long history of handling seismic catastrophes.
