From the moment of the first siren blast at 6 a.m., folks throughout the globe were watching and waiting to see what would happen.
"Tsunami warning is in effect. Leave immediately, do not be brave," were the words coming over the loudspeaker of a fire truck.
Hawaii's large boating community was among the first to heed the call to action.
"My plans are to take the vessel out of the harbor, go into a rescue mode," said boat owner Mark Meyer.
"We'll head out about five miles in the ocean in the safe zone and just ride it out there," said boat owner Brian Pestel.
The first tsunami wave was expected to hit Hilo just after 11 a.m. and it was unknown how severe the event might be.
After an earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale devastated parts central Chile, boaters were taking no chances and soon a flotilla of vessels large and small headed out to sea.
It was soon clear those in tsunami inundation zones throughout the Hawaiian Islands would also be forced to move.
"People in low lying areas need to get to higher ground," said Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho.
By 8:30 a.m. reports came in that a six-foot tsunami had hit the Marquesas Islands and a similar wave could strike Hawaii. Residents and business owners near Hilo Bay were on the move.
"So we cleaned out the office, took everything we could out of there that of any value, anything we wanted to see again," said Alice Moon with the Downtown Hilo Association.
Just after 11 a.m. in Hilo, we began to see the evidence that the first tsunami was upon us - water rushing into Hilo Bay and spilling over ever so gently past the palm trees. But what looked gentle from shore was a torrent of currents out in the water.
"There've been police patrolling the area and letting us know what's going on all morning so that's been a good thing," said Moon.
Kahului Harbor was next to feel the impact of the small tsunami wave, with extreme turbulence just offshore.
At about 11:30 - we watched on live TV as a part of the reef at Ala Moana Beach Park on Oahu was quickly exposed. The time lapse covers a period of only three minutes.
When the first wave finally hit - the reef was quickly covered again.
"So it's pretty fun to watch it fill up with water, disappear and come dry again," said Hawaiki Resident Manager Paul McCurdy.
By one o'clock, the flotilla of boats and ships offshore were headed back in and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Everybody did what they're supposed to do so I think it was great, it was a good exercise if nothing else," said McCurdy.
Experts say the highest tsunami wave recorded in Hawaii was just over three feet.
