Millions return home as tsunami warning is lifted

COUNTRIES across the Pacific rim lifted tsunami warnings on Wednesday, allowing millions of temporary evacuees to return home.

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After one of the strongest earthquakes recorded rattled Russia’s sparsely populated Far East, more than a dozen nations — from Japan to the US and Ecuador — warned citizens to stay away from coastal regions.

Storm surges of up to 4m were predicted for some parts of the Pacific, after the 8.8 quake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula.

The tsunami warnings caused widespread disruption. Peru closed 65 of its 121 Pacific ports and authorities on Maui cancelled flights to and from the Hawaiian island. But fears of a catastrophe were not realised, with country after country lifting or downgrading warnings and telling coastal residents they could return.

In Japan, almost two million people had been ordered to higher ground, before the warnings were downgraded to an advisory for large stretches of its Pacific coast, with waves up to 0.7m still being observed on Thursday.

“We urge the public not to go in coastal waters and please stay away from coasts,” a seismologist at Japan’s meteorological agency said.