Civil Defense sirens are being activated at the beginning of every hour to alert residents about the tsunami generated by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Chile.

The first waves are expected to reach Hawaii at about 11:19 a.m.

Residents who live in a tsunami evacuation zone should listen to a radio or television station for Civil Defense announcements and instructions and move inland to higher ground.

To learn if you work or live in an evacuation zone, check the Disaster Preparedness Guide in the front of the telephone directory or go to http://www.scd.hawaii.gov and enter your address in the Tsunami Evacuation Mapping Tool.

“;If you live anywhere in the evacuation zone, you have to evacuate,”; said John Cummings, Oahu Emergency Management Department spokesman. “;This is a serious event. We're going to treat this as a destructive-type tsunami.”;

No evacuation centers had been designated early this morning but some shelters were being set up.  

Visitors and residents of hotels and high-rise buildings along the coast are advised to move to the third floor or higher.

Officials said the biggest problems are expected in enclosed bay areas in Hilo, Kahului and Haleiwa where waves could reach six to eight feet.

Waves are  expected to be under three feet along other shorelines, said geophysicist Brian Shiro  at the Tsunami Warning Center.

The sirens will sound regularly as the  tsunami gets closer, he said.

 ”;All of our predictions and models are suggesting the tsunami in Hawaii is going to be less than three feet,”; Shiro said. “;That's not huge. But in places like Hilo Bay, Kahului, Haleiwa, the tsunami is going to probably get trapped and…be as high as six to eight feet.”;

Eight Pacific-wide tsunamis with wave heights of 10 feet or more hit the Hawaiian Islands from 1900 through 1964. A tsunami generated by a  9.8-magnitude earthquake  off Chile in 1960  killed 61 people.

Waves of up to 20 feet hit Hilo about 15 hours after the quake, according to a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center account by geophysicist Gerard Fryer.

That tsunami caused about 2,000 death sin Chile and flooded Japan's coastline with 200 deaths from 10-foot waves. The Marquesas, Samoa and New Zealand also had tsunami damage.

A tsunami is  a series of waves generated by a sudden rise or fall of a section of the earth's crust.  They can travel at speeds of more than 500 miles per hour and they are more powerful and dangerous than surfing waves. .

Residents are warned not to go to the beach to  see tsunami waves or to try to surf them.

Wait until an “;all clear”; announcement before returning to a coastal area.