KOROR, Palau — Palau’s coasts were quiet on Wednesday afternoon despite hours of heightened concern after a massive earthquake off Russia triggered a tsunami advisory across the Pacific.
The National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) issued a tsunami watch around 10:30 a.m. on July 30, advising the public that a wave was expected to arrive at 3:19 p.m. with “minimal” risk. Small craft warnings were also issued for boats inside and outside the reef.
By 1:50 p.m., NEMO elevated the advisory to an evacuation notice, urging people to leave coastal areas and move to higher ground. The alerts were broadcast on radio, social media, PNCC text messages and through law enforcement. Koror State closed parks and offices near the shore as a precaution.
Palau ultimately saw little more than a ripple when the expected arrival time came and went. At 4:30 p.m., NEMO issued an “all clear,” lifting the tsunami watch.
This was an opportunity to test disaster warning systems, and NEMO was able to reach the entire country, including the outlying states.
The alert also revealed some challenges. For many residents, the warning was their first experience with a tsunami threat. Instead of moving away from the water, some gathered at the coastline to watch.
Law enforcement officers repeatedly warned the public about the dangers. “We experienced during Typhoon Haiyan the waves rolling into the village in Ngiwal,” said one officer from Juvenile Justice, called to assist in the evacuation. “It happened so suddenly that one moment we were walking people out, and the next, we had to swim to bring them to safety.”
NEMO’s coordination with the Palau National Weather Service — last seen during Typhoon Surigae in 2021 — showed that lessons learned from past disasters had improved preparedness.
Background on the Kamchatka earthquake
The alerts were triggered by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck at 11:24 a.m. PETT (23:24 UTC, July 29) off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The quake occurred about 118 kilometers southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a depth of 19 kilometers. Initially reported as magnitude 8.0, it was later upgraded to 8.8, placing it among the strongest earthquakes ever recorded.
The quake generated tsunami warnings across more than 40 countries from Asia and Oceania to the Americas. Improved early warning systems helped avoid mass casualties despite the global scale of the alerts.