Earthquake Shakes Hawaii

The Hawaiian islands were shaken by an earthquake this morning, six days before the Ironman Triathlon World Championships are set to take place. The epicenter was just off the west coast where the bike course winds its way up to Hawi. Below is the CNN story, followed by an update from Ironman.

Sunday morning brought chaos to the normally serene and lush Big Island of Hawaii as it shook with the state's biggest earthquake since 1983.

Registering 6.6 on the Richter Scale, which classifies quakes above 7.0 as "major," the temblor brought down hospital ceilings and hundred-year-old homes. It sent huge rocks and landslides into roadways and knocked out power to thousands.

But miraculously it did not set off a much feared tsunami or, officials said, cost anyone their life.

"We were rocking and rolling," Anne LaVasseur told The Associated Press.

She felt the quake as she stood on the second floor of her Big Island home.

"I was pretty scared," said LaVasseur. "We were swaying back and forth, like King Kong's pushing your house back and forth."Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle issued a disaster declaration for the entire state about four hours after the strong quake at 7:07 a.m. (1:07 p.m. ET) Sunday.

There have been as many as 20 aftershocks, with the strongest recorded at 5.8, officials told CNN.

Emergency room ceilings collapsed and electricity went out at Kona Community Hospital on the Big Island, which began transporting seriously ill patients and nursing home patients to Hilo Medical Center around 11 a.m. (5 p.m. ET), said spokeswoman Terry Lewis. No Kona Hospital patients were injured during the quake, Lewis said.

Live footage from KITV showed lines outside grocery stores and crowds growing at gas stations.
Power was restored to Hilo on the Big Island. Power is slowly coming back on throughout Maui, the Hawaii National Guard told The Associated Press.

Officials did not have a firm estimate of how many people were without power. In areas such as Waikiki -- on the island of Oahu -- which relies heavily on tourism, visitors began lining up outside convenience stores to buy water and other supplies. Managers were letting tourists into the darkened stores one at a time.

Bill Wong, a Big Island resident, said damage to buildings was extensive. He said the 100-foot-tall stack to a century-old sugar mill collapsed into a pile of rubble. "Everything in our house is damaged," he said. "Our whole house was rocking, it was swaying from left to right," he said. He described his neighborhood after the quakes as looking "like a war zone."

Pressgrave of the U.S. Geological Survey said preliminary reports indicated the quake was centered along the west coast of the island of Hawaii, referred to as the Big Island, 153 miles southeast of Honolulu, which is on the island of Oahu. There was no threat of a tsunami, the Geological Survey said.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano said an aftershock of 4.2 struck about 10 a.m. (4 p.m. ET). This is normal activity, according to the USGS, but it came after a series of at least 10 aftershocks ranging in the 3.0 and lower range.

KITV anchor Shawn Ching said there was "significant" structural damage throughout the Big Island. A spokesperson for a hospital in Waimea said its emergency room was "inundated" with patients who suffered lacerations during the quake.

KITV anchor Mahealani Richardson told CNN the west side of the Big Island is difficult to navigate and has one primary road.

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Ironman Earthquake Update
October 15th, 2006
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As an update to news reports, Ironman has been in continuous contact with state and local authorities assessing the situation from this morning's earthquake in Hawaii. Ironman's foremost mission is the safety and care of the Kona community, event volunteers and its Ironman athletes. While reports from the local/state authorities and the resort management agencies are still coming in, local daily operations are resuming and proceeding as normal. Contingency plans are in place regarding the Ford Ironman World Championship event, but at the present time, no alterations to the event or course are necessary. We, at Ironman appreciate all the calls of support and should anything change in the next few hours or days, Ironman will release all information via the website, www.ironman.com as quickly as possible.