The following video was taken on Saturday Feb 27th in Hilo, HI.
The videographer was not very wise to film this where he was located inside the evacuation zone, but he did get some good footage.
Here is what he had to say on YouTube:
These were the surges I filmed as a result of the magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile. Hilo is probably the most vulnerable place in hawaii to tsunamis, primarily a result of its large, funnel shaped bay and offshore topography.
I would guess that some of the larger tsunami waves, which would have been the third, fourth, and fifth waves, were (from trough to crest) in the 8 to 9 ft range in the Wailuku River.
If you can’t tell in the footage, I broke the law in a thousand ways to get this footage. My mom, aunt and I were the only ones we could see in the tsunami evacuation area. All of the parkland around us was created after a tsunami in 1960 leveled all of the buildings in the center of the city. I am very aware that what I did was not safe. If a 35ft wave were to have unexpectedly come in, I could have easily been killed. Even so, I live to see incredible displays of natures power. Much like driving a race car or parachuting from an airplane, it’s a passion that inherently comes with certain risks.
