Here are some updates on this tragic news....
The US West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre said that any tsunami generated by the earthquake off the coast of Japan would hit Hawaii at around 2.45am (12.45pm GMT) and the US West Coast at 7.45am (3.45pm GMT).
Sky News US correspondent Robert Nisbet in the Hawaii resort of Wakiki said that some people were being told to move inland and others urged to move to the upper floor of buildings in case a tsunami hits.
"We understand that on Oahu there are 30,000 people in unsafe areas who are being told to move half a mile inland," he said.
"But what are talking about here in Wakiki is a vertical evacuation. There are a lot of skyscrapers here, a lot of hotels that sit along the Pacific coast. They are asking people who are below the third floor to move above the third floor and listen to the radio and TV for instructions.
"We have just been down to the shops ourselves to pick up some water and supplies and there are a lot of people down there."
Civil defence sirens were sounded statewide shortly before 10pm local time to alert residents. The tsunami warning said that all islands in the Hawaiian chain were in the path of potential damage.
Heavy traffic and long lines at petrol stations were reported on Oahu as residents tried to begin their journeys inland.
As residents prepared for the possible tsunami, a 4.5 magnitude quake hit Hawaii's Big Island, about 30 miles southeast of Hilo.
Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and the entire Pacific coast of Central and South America were also on alert. Tsunami waves were due to make landfall at the following times (UK time):
:: 9am - Northern Mariana Islands - no large waves hit
:: 9.17am - Guam - initially appears unaffected
:: 10.02am - Philippines - no damage or casualties reported
:: 11:32am - Papua New Guinea
:: 11.35am - Indonesia - small waves caused no damage
:: 1.10pm - Hawaii
:: 2.16pm - Vanuatu
:: 2.53 - Samoa
:: 3.35pm - Australia
:: 4.12pm - US west coast
:: 5.23pm - New Zealand
:: 11.00pm - Easter Island
Oceanographer Dr Simon Boxhall said: "The fact that a 10m wave has hit Japan implies that there is the scope for a wave to go right across the Pacific.
"The wave moves very quickly - it moves in the deep ocean at about the speed of a jumbo jet. The advantage is that we get plenty of warning as you head further away from the epicentre," he said.
"When we had a similar earthquake off the Chilean coast last year they tracked that tsunami for about 12 hours in total. It caused a lot damage around Chile but had largely fizzled out before Hawaii.
"But in this case you never know. It is happening in relatively deep water, it's propagating out across an open Pacific and so there is potential for damage to be caused all around the Pacific coast."
The Red Cross has warned that the tsunami waves could wash right over some Pacific islands as the wave is curently higher than some of them.
"Our biggest concern is the Asia and Pacific region, where developing countries are far more vulnerable to this type of unfolding disaster. The tsunami is a major threat," spokesman Paul Conneally said.
Ocean waves up to two metres above normal sea level were detected by deep-ocean gauges near Wake island, Midway and Guam in the North Pacific, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Residents of the US territory of Guam were urged to move at least 15m above sea level and 30m inland.
Disaster management expert Geoff Williams: "The key thing in these areas that could be affected is that the companies like petrochemical companies, electric companies, will be assessing if they should shut down.
"Equally, old folks' homes, hospitals, schools they can start to make sure these are closed and they can start evacuating areas."
Taiwan's central weather bureau said minor tsunamis had reached the island's coastline without causing any damage and it later lifted its tsunami alert.
Russian authorities on the far eastern Sakhalin Island and nearby territories have evacuated some 11,000 residents from coastal areas in anticipation that tsunami waves could hit several villages.
Residents on the eastern coast of the Philippines were also ordered to leave their homes..........
Taiwan roads reopened and guests at a Philippines resort reported no unusual waves after Japan’s strongest earthquake in at least a century triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, including the U.S. west coast.
Sirens sounded in Hawaii and low-lying areas were evacuated after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center raised an alert following the 8.9-magnitude temblor off Japan’s northeast, the Associated Press reported. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center extended the warning to the U.S. west seaboard.
The Philippines, Indonesia and Chile were among more than 20 countries that were told to brace for a possible tsunami after Japan’s coast was engulfed by water. At least 26 people were killed by waves as high as 7 meters (23 feet) and many more are missing, according state broadcaster NHK Television.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau ended its tsunami alert around 7 p.m. local time, saying there’s no imminent danger. The waves that landed on the island from 5.47 p.m. to 6.10 p.m. were between 8 centimeters and 12 centimeters high, the bureau said. The main island of Taiwan isn’t in a direct line to the epicenter of the quake.
The temblor struck at 2:46 p.m. local time 130 kilometers (81 miles) off the coast of Sendai, north of Tokyo, at a depth of 24 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was followed by a 7.1-magnitude aftershock at 4:25 p.m., the agency said. The quake was the fifth-biggest since 1900, according to USGS data on its website.
Wave Surge
Waves traveling as fast as 800 kilometers an hour radiated from the epicenter, sparking warnings in countries lying in their path. A 9.1 magnitude temblor off North Sumatra in Indonesia in December 2004 left about 220,000 people dead or missing in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean.
In the Philippines, residents living in coastal areas in 19 provinces were advised to seek higher ground. Waves were expected to hit Philippine shores between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in a bulletin.
At the Misibis Bay luxury resort in the Philippines there were no signs of large waves at 6:30 p.m., according to two Bloomberg News journalists staying there. Staff had briefed guests, who remain on alert, they said.
Evacuations earlier began in the provinces of Surigao and Eastern Samar, police officials said.
Corn, Rice Harvests
The provinces put on alert include some of the nation’s biggest corn and rice producing areas such as Cagayan, Isabela and Aurora. Harvesting of the first rice crop in the world’s biggest buyer of the grain will peak between this month and May.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also issued warnings for Indonesia, Russia, New Zealand and Australia, as well as countries down the west coast of Central and Latin America as far as Chile and Antarctica. Lack of adequate warnings after the 2004 Indonesia quake were blamed for many of the deaths.
Chile’s government said it is not ruling out evacuating Easter Island, located 3,500 kilometers (2,100 miles) off the Chilean coast, where waves generated by the quake may arrive at about 6 p.m. New York time.
A tsunami warning is in effect in Indonesia for the provinces of Papua, northern Sulawesi and Maluku, the country’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said in an e- mailed statement. Affected areas are “expected to pay attention to this warning and immediately guide their communities for evacuation,†the statement said.
The waves may reach parts of eastern Indonesia at 8:35 p.m. local time -- about 6:35 p.m. in Jakarta, the agency said in a mobile-phone text message. The tsunami may reach different areas at different times, and the first wave may not be the strongest.
BP Monitoring
BP Plc said it is “closely monitoring†its operations in Papua. “So far Tangguh LNG is operating as normal, but we are closely monitoring the situation and readying our resources for any eventuality,†William Lin, president of BP Asia Pacific Exploration & Production, said in an e-mailed statement.
Taiwan’s eastern counties of Taitung, Yilan, Hualien and north eastern Keelung city had earlier shut schools and businesses after the Central Weather Bureau issued a tsunami alert, the Central Personnel Administration said in statements on its website.
Waves may reach Hawaii by 12:59 p.m. GMT, the Pacific center said.
. Just thought of informing you guys 
