Longtime New Westminster residents Nsibe (Nancy) and Baj Puri braced themselves for a tsunami in a tropical paradise following Saturday night's earthquake off the coast of British Columbia.
Natural Resources Canada reports that a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred offshore in the Haida Gwaii region at 8:04 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 and was followed by numerous aftershocks, with the strongest being a magnitude 6.3 at 11:54 a.m. on Sunday. While the earthquake didn't cause any major damage in B.C., it did trigger tsunami warnings along the coast - and in Hawaii, where the New Westminster couple was vacationing.
"We were in a restaurant having dinner. The waitress came up to us in a panic saying we are going to have a tsunami, we have to clear the restaurant," Nsibe Puri told The Record. "We left, we paid our bill."
Walking the few blocks it took to get to their Waikiki hotel, the couple saw people running in the streets. It was anticipated that a tsunami could hit the island in about two hours.
"As we were walking, all the stores were closing. The sirens were going like crazy," Nsibe said. "The police were going up and down every street with their speakers saying, 'please vacate the streets.' It was pretty scary."
While people were evacuated from low-lying locations, the couple was able to go to their hotel suite on the fourth floor.
"We watched the ocean. We watch the TV," Nsibe said. "We watched all the action - the police were going four or five cars at a time with their speakers."
Having vacationed in the same hotel in Waikiki every year for the past 25 years, the couple is familiar with the oceanfront view from their patio.
"It seemed like the water was boiling," Nsibe said of the ocean's appearance on Saturday night. "It wasn't rushing - when you looked at it, it looked like it was bubbling."
Many of the people who had been evacuated were able to return to their hotels by about 2 a.m.
"They are prepared. They know what to do," Nsibe said about Hawaiians' response to potential tsunamis. "It is amazing how everything was controlled within an hour."
While businesses had reopened and people were strolling the streets, it was a quiet day on Waikiki Beach. Although Sundays are typically a day when local families gather at the beach, people seemed wary to venture too close to the ocean.
"It was gorgeous," Nsibe said about her final day in Hawaii. "There weren't people on the beach or in the ocean."
Although Saturday's earthquake went unnoticed by most Royal City residents, some locals felt the shake and others reported seeing their light fixtures swaying.
John Hatch, a deputy chief with the New Westminster Fire Department, said there were "no effects" from Saturday's earthquake in New Westminster.
"We advise them to look at our website," he said about inquiries from residents. "If there are community groups interested, we can make presentations."
