Thousands of people from as far north as the Ilocos region and as far south as the Davao provinces evacuated to higher grounds starting Saturday night after authorities issued tsunami alerts as a result of the devastating earthquake in Chile across the Pacific Ocean.

The National Disaster Coordinating Center’s alert covered coastal areas in Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur as well as Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Quezon, Aurora, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Northern Samar, EasternSamar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.

Meanwhile, scientist Jane Punongbayan of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned residents along the shorelines in the Ilocos provinces and Cagayan Valley to take extra precautions from possible tsunami.

In an interview over local radio, Punongbayan said the tsunami could increase waves by up to one meter high along the shorelines of the Ilocos and Cagayan provinces.

She advised the local folks to refrain from going to beaches in the affected areas from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, when the waves were expected to reach local shores.

As of press time, however, there was no reported damage from the north.

An estimated 100,000 individuals fled their homes along the coastal areas in Surigao provinces, and the islands and cities of Surigao and Tandag at pre-dawn Sunday as a result of the tsunami alert.

The Office of Civil Defense in Caraga said the exodus happened in the coastal towns of Lianga, Barobo, Carrascal and Cortes in Surigao del Sur, island towns in Surigao del Norte and five barangays in Surigao City.

“They started their evacuation since last night,” said OCD Regional Director Blanche T. Gobenciong.

“This is the initiative of our local officials despite that our advisory is only to stay alert.”

Residents living along the coastline of General Luna, Pilar, San Isidro, Burgos and Dapa in Siargao Island also evacuated to higher grounds following the advisories, she said.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco T. Matugas and Rep. Guillermo Romarate, Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel, Surigao del Norte Gov. Robert Ace Barbers and Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Casurra also alerted their respective disaster councils.

In Davao Oriental, Mati City Administrator Richard Villacorte said that they evacuated about 2,000 residents from coastal barangays who were temporarily housed in three evacuation centers.

As early as Saturday night, some residents of Mati trooped to the provincial capitol in the city which is in an elevated area overlooking Pujada Bay.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre based in Hawaii earlier warned countries in the Pacific Rim that were vulnerable to huge wave surges as a result of the Chile earthquake.

It identified the countries as Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Pitcairn, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, French Polynesia, Mexico, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Kermadec Island, Niue, New Zealand, Tonga, American Samoa, Jarvis Island, Wallis-Futuna, Tokelau, Fiji, Australia, Hawaii, Palmyra Island, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Howland-Baker, New Caledonia, Johnston Island, Solomon Island, Nauru, Marshall Island, Chuuk, Russia, Marcus Island, Indonesia, Northern Marianas, Guam, Yap, Belau, Japan, the Philippines, and Chinese Taipei.

The tsunami center earlier confirmed that a tsunami was generated by the Chile tremor that struck around 6:34 in the morning of February 27 (Chile Time) which could cause widespread damage.

The tsunami was estimated to arrive in the Philippines at 1 p.m. of February 28 in Davao.

The tsunami center said that if no major waves are observed for two hours after the estimated time of arrival or damaging waves have not occurred for at least two hours, then local authorities can assume the threat is passed.

Danger to boats and coastal structures can continue however for several hours due to rapid currents. It was learned that tsunamis travel as fast an airplane.

In Tokyo, the Associated Press reported that the first tsunami from Chile's earthquake has hit Japan's outlying islands, but the initial waves are small.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said the first tsunami to reach Japan was recorded in the Ogasawara islands early Sunday afternoon. It was just 10 centimeters high. There were no reports of damage.

Officials warned that bigger waves could reach Japan's main islands, and kept up their alert for the nation's Pacific coastline.

Japan put its entire eastern coastline on tsunami alert Sunday and ordered hundreds of thousands of residents in low-lying areas to seek higher ground as waves generated by the earthquake off Chile raced across the Pacific at hundreds of kilometers per hour. (With a report from AP)