Tsunami: Hawaii 'dodged a bullet'

An official at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says Hawaii "dodged a bullet" after a major earthquake sent powerful waves roiling around the Pacific.

It still will be about an hour before officials will be willing to give an all-clear in Hawaii, but there were no immediate reports of major damage around the Pacific rim. just tidal surges that reached up to about seven feet in some island chains.

Gerard Fryer, a geophysist for the tsunami center, defended the decision to urge evacuations of coastal areas, saying "better safe than sorry."

The first waves looked more like an extreme fluctuation in the tide than the giant tsunami that Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific Ocean were bracing for after the magnitude-8.8 quake devastated Chile.

The wave began affecting Hilo Bay on the Big Island just before noon local time. Water began pulling away from shore, exposing reefs and sending dark streaks of muddy, sandy water offshore. Water later washed over Coconut Island, a small park off the coast of Hilo.

The tsunami was causing a series of surges that were about 20 minutes apart, and the waves arrived later and smaller than originally predicted. The highest wave at Hilo measured 1.75m feet high, while Maui saw some as high as 2m.

No major damage was immediately reported, but scientists cautioned the waves would continue into the afternoon.