Next tsunami update expected at 11:15 p.m., when wave hits Wake Island

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center director Chip McCreary said the tsunami threat will become clearer when the waves hit Wake Island and Midway.

“What these waves look like is an elevation of sea level, where the sea level will rise above its normal level and stay high for 10 or 15 minutes before it starts to recede,” McCreary told Associated Press. “As a result of this, in a tsunami wave, that water can flood the coast line and be a hazard to people and buildings on the coast.”

Getting to Wake Island is not easy and once there, you may get to leave in a few hours or you may have to stay a few days, according to the National Weather Service. A former active military base, Wake Island sits in the middle of the ocean, a 7 1/2-hour flight southwest of Honolulu. The island is no longer serviced by commercial airlines even though it is an important refueling stop and emergency landing site for aircraft transiting the Pacific. Infrequent military flights or charter flights are the only air transportation available.