1:03pm UK, Friday March 11, 2011
The US islands of Hawaii and nations across the Pacific ocean are bracing themselves after a tsunami warning was extended across the region.
The US West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre said that any tsunami generated by the earthquake off the coast of Japan would hit Hawaii at around 2.45am (12.45pm GMT) and the US West Coast at 7.45am (3.45pm GMT).
Sky News US correspondent Robert Nisbet in the Hawaii resort of Wakiki said that some people were being told to move inland and others urged to move to the upper floor of buildings in case a tsunami hits.
"We understand that on Oahu there are 30,000 people in unsafe areas who are being told to move half a mile inland," he said.
"But what are talking about here in Wakiki is a vertical evacuation. There are a lot of skyscrapers here, a lot of hotels that sit along the Pacific coast. They are asking people who are below the third floor to move above the third floor and listen to the radio and TV for instructions.
"We have just been down to the shops ourselves to pick up some water and supplies and there are a lot of people down there."
Civil defence sirens were sounded statewide shortly before 10pm local time to alert residents. The tsunami warning said that all islands in the Hawaiian chain were in the path of potential damage.
Heavy traffic and long lines at petrol stations were reported on Oahu as residents tried to begin their journeys inland.
As residents prepared for the possible tsunami, a 4.5 magnitude quake hit Hawaii's Big Island, about 30 miles southeast of Hilo.
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