A grandmother in Peru sparked widespread attention after she took her grandson to the beach to watch a potential tsunami—moments after a national alert was issued.
She was watching local news on Wednesday morning when she learned of a tsunami warning triggered by a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Instead of seeking shelter, she decided to visit the coast near her home in Chorrillos, Lima, bringing her grandson along to “see and learn.”
“I wanted to see something because I had never seen a tsunami,” she told Latina Noticias. “I also brought my grandson so he could see and learn.”
Her calm reaction stood in stark contrast to widespread evacuations and quickly went viral. When asked if she felt scared, she brushed off the danger: “Well, they’ve told us it’s something preventative, that it’s not high risk, right? That’s what I’ve heard.”
The Peruvian government had shut down 65 of its 121 Pacific ports and urged residents to stay away from coastal areas. The warning came in response to the powerful quake, which sent waves as high as 20 feet toward Russia’s coast.
In Russia, tsunami waves flooded the port of Severo-Kurilsk, destroying a local fishing plant and sweeping buildings and debris into the sea. One person died, and several others were injured while trying to flee, including a hospital patient who jumped out of a window.
In Japan, nearly two million people were ordered to evacuate before the alert was downgraded to an advisory. Still, waves up to 2.3 feet were reported. Tragically, a woman in her 50s died after falling from a cliffside road while driving to an evacuation center in Mie Prefecture. Ten others, mostly in Hokkaido, were injured while evacuating.
Tsunami waves even reached Crescent City, California, where swells of up to 3.6 feet were recorded.
Despite the danger, the Peruvian grandmother insisted the situation didn’t seem serious. “It’s a precaution because we don’t know how high the waves will be,” she said.
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Katie is a senior who has been on staff for three years. Her favorite type of stories to write is reviews and features. Katie’s favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
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