The warning was ominous, its predictions dire: Oceanographers issued a bulletin telling Hawaii and other Pacific islands that a killer wave was heading their way with terrifying force and that ``urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property.''

But the devastating tidal surge predicted after Chile's magnitude 8.8-earthquake for areas far from the epicenter never materialised. And by Sunday, authorities had lifted the warning after waves half the predicted size tickled the shores of Hawaii and tourists once again jammed beaches and restaurants.


``It's a key point to remember that we cannot under-warn. Failure to warn is not an option for us,'' said Dai Lin Wang, an oceanographer at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. ``We cannot have a situation that we thought was no problem and then it's devastating. That just cannot happen.''



At least five people were killed by the tsunami on Robinson Crusoe Island off Chile's coast and huge waves devastated the port city of Talcahuano, near hard-hit Concepcion on Chile's mainland.

But the threat of monster waves that left Hawaii's sun-drenched beaches empty for hours never appeared _ a stark contrast to the tidal surge that killed 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean in 2004 and flattened entire communities.


In Tonga, where up to 50,000 people fled inland hours ahead of the tsunami, the National Disaster Office had reports of a wave up to 6.5 feet (1.98 meters) hitting a small northern island, with no indications of damage.

And in Japan, where authorities ordered 400,000 people out of coastal communities, the biggest wave was a 4-foot (1.22-meter) surge that hit the northern island of Hokkaido, flooding some piers.

After the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center lifted its warning, some countries kept their own watches in place as a precaution. Early Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency warned of a possible tsunami about a foot and a half in size along its entire Pacific coast and told people to stay away from the waterfront. That warning was

cleared later Monday morning.

Scientists offered no apologies for the warnings and defended their work, all while worrying that the false alarm could lead to complacency among coastal residents _ a disastrous possibility in the earthquake-prone Pacific Rim.


``If you give too many warnings and none of them materialize, then you lose your credibility,'' Wang said. ``That's something that we have to deal with and we have to improve.''

Despite some of the panic in Hawaii, public officials called the evacuation ``perfect'' and said it was a good test case that proved the system worked.

Keywords: tsunamiquake