A magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit near Chile and brought insurmountable death and destruction to the nation. However, what was “supposed” to have spawned off of the massive quake was scrutinized heavily today – the Hawaii Tsunami.
Yes, the tsunami that was to have paralyzed Hawaii and beckoned more humanitarian aid.
The cameras rolled. Webcams streamed views of the ocean live. News outlets hovered above the waters looking for telling signs of the epic waves. Meanwhile, Chile was crumbling and falling apart with hundreds dead and millions affected.
As the 4-5 PM EST window for this epic wave came and went, millions were glued to the sights of the ocean. What would come, however, were a few meter-high waves and released sighs of relief.
The one live webcam I personally viewed was a shot of a bustling street in Hawaii, with a view of the ocean in the background. Cars lined the sides of the streets, and people carried on as if nothing was going to happen. Which is exactly why – nothing was going to happen. Amidst all of the news reports of possible impending doom, these men and women were just carrying on. One news anchor called people walking on the beach “idiotic.”
If the media did a little research like I did, they’d know that no real threat was coming.
According to an advisory issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at 6:24 a.m., the waves were forecast to be just 2.5 meters. However, the media ran with this story and made it seem like it would be something of epic and catastrophic proportions. At the same time, bodies were being pulled from the rubble in Chile and lives were being destroyed.
I know what you may be thinking: “They issued a tsunami warning for Hawaii! The media had to cover it!”
Here is a list of all of the nations under the tsunami warning that went out earlier today, according the the Pacific warning center:
CHILE / PERU / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / ANTARCTICA / PANAMA / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / PITCAIRN / HONDURAS / EL SALVADOR / GUATEMALA / FR. POLYNESIA / MEXICO / COOK ISLANDS / KIRIBATI / KERMADEC IS / NIUE / NEW ZEALAND / TONGA / AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA / JARVIS IS. / WALLIS-FUTUNA / TOKELAU / FIJI / AUSTRALIA / HAWAII / PALMYRA IS. / TUVALU / VANUATU / HOWLAND-BAKER / NEW CALEDONIA / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / NAURU / MARSHALL IS. / MIDWAY IS. / KOSRAE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / POHNPEI / WAKE IS. / CHUUK / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / INDONESIA / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / YAP / BELAU / JAPAN / PHILIPPINES / CHINESE TAIPEI
Where were all the cameras? Hawaii. Where was there a tsunami, but not the catastrophic tsunami the media was creating? Hawaii. Who tried to momentarily suck the humanity of a REAL massive tragedy by diverting attention to a synthetic one?
The media.
Again.
The Hawaii Tsunami was a non-event.
