Tsunami waves triggered by a massive earthquake hitting Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday have already reached Taiwan and are expected to hit coastal areas of Zhejiang and Shanghai in east China, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
As of 10:30, tsunami detection buoys near the epicenter have recorded waves as high as 90 cm. Coastal areas of Japan and Russia have observed tsunami waves ranging from 30 to 50 cm respectively.
The tsunami waves are expected to reach the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Shanghai between 17:00 and 19:00, with maximum wave amplitudes of 40 cm and 30 cm, respectively.
"Once tsunami waves reach the shoreline, they may leave disastrous impacts to coastal infrastructure and aquaculture zones. Coincided with the typhoon Co-may that had already made landfall in Zhejiang, storm surges are expected to raise sea levels by about 120 cm along the coasts of Zhejiang and Shanghai. The combined effects of these two disasters require heightened attention and strengthened precautionary measures," said Hou Jingming, forecaster at the tsunami warning center of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
China has issued alerts and activated emergency responses.
At 10:00, the Ministry of Natural Resources activated a Level IV emergency response for marine disasters in Jiangsu Province and raised the level of emergency response to marine disasters in Zhejiang and Shanghai to level II.
The National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center (NMEFC) has issued orange wave warnings in coastal areas of Shanghai and northern Zhejiang and a wave warning in coastal areas of southern Jiangsu, requiring these places to make emergency response to waves.
Based on the latest monitoring results, the tsunami warning center of the Ministry of Natural Resources on Wednesday afternoon renewed a yellow alert for tsunami for Taiwan. The center also issued yellow alerts for tsunami for Zhejiang and Shanghai but later lifted the warnings.
China has a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe response, and a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Experts have reminded the public to receive early warning information for tsunami in a timely manner and keep away from impacted coastal areas.
"Tsunami may not cause damage along flat and smooth coastlines, but in areas with special geographical features, such as U-shaped bays or steep slopes, the wave amplitude may increase, significantly raising the risk of disaster," said Hou.
Tsunami waves to impact China’s coasts after powerful quake strikes Russia's Far East
