As a result, a tsunami warning has been issued for Hawaii, Polynesia and Tonga, with waves expected to reach Hawaii at 11:19 a.m. local time (4:19 p.m. EST). A tsunami advisory has been issued for California, while tsunami warnings have been issued for 53 countries in total, including Australia and New Zealand.
We're currently tracking the coverage online with a combination of live streams from local TV stations, official information from the NOAA and updates from Twitter and real-time search. Here's a collection of resources we're using: please add your own in the comments.
Tracking the Tsunami Warnings Online
1. Live-streaming video (Ustream) - Ustream is helpfully providing TV coverage from local channels in Chile and Hawaii. We've aggregated the most relevant channels in a blog post.
2. Twitter hashtag #tsunami - Twitter users are tagging updates with #tsunami, and Twitter search is proving extremely useful for news tracking. Remember that Twitter's advanced search lets you find updates posted from specific places -- Chile or Hawaii, for instance.
3. Google Real-time search "Tsunami warning" - Google's real-time search combines news results with postings from Twitter, blogs and other real-time sources. "Tsunami warning" delivers relevant results, but obviously tweak your search terms if you're looking for something more specific.
4. NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center - The PTWC provides a collection of resources for those tracking the tsunami, including maps of those areas where tsunami warnings and advisories have been issued.