People learn from the stories of others. At the Pacific Tsunami Museum in Hilo, we tell stories to increase awareness so that people make informed decisions in the event of another tsunami.
The May 23, 1960, tsunami was generated by a 9.5-magnitude earthquake in Chile. It took about 15 hours for the waves to reach the Hawaiian Islands. Although there was a warning system in place, some people were in the wrong place at the wrong time and 61 people died, all in Hilo. There was devastation to homes, schools and businesses in Hilo and elsewhere. These stories paint a picture of what it was like.
Koehnen’s store
Like so many businesses near Hilo’s Bayfront, Koehnen’s was severely impacted by the 1960 tsunami. After getting word that a tsunami had been generated by an earthquake in Chile, the family and employees moved merchandise upstairs and took their vault to the police station.
That night, back at home on Kilauea Avenue, the family watched from a bedroom window as the waves hit. “It sounded like a freight train,” the family said. As the power plant exploded and sent the whole city into darkness, they gathered candles, flashlights and brooms and headed to the store.
Once inside, they trudged through ankle-deep black water and felt fish brushing up against their legs. At about 3 a.m., the family was helped by one of their bank’s executives. Still in the tuxedo he was wearing to a party, he picked up a broom and helped clean. The real shock was when the sun came up and they walked outside to look at the downtown area. “We didn’t recognize anything.”
HPM (Hawaii Planing Mill)
After the 1946 tsunami, HPM was rebuilt as a reinforced steel structure across the street from its original location. However, the 1960 tsunami struck with such force that then-president Robert Fujimoto was astounded by what he saw.
“I could see where our building was supposed to be … There was nothing there,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine that the tsunami would have taken it, the whole building, as it was one of the first all-steel buildings. The building sat on a concrete pier, with bolts on it. What happened was a wave must have pulled the building up. All of the bolts were stripped.”
The twisted pieces of the structure ended up in the Wailoa River. Fortunately, Fujimoto had removed all of the important business documents ahead of time. With help from its employees and government programs, HPM recovered and thrives today.
Hilo Soda Works: Edward Shindo’s story
In 1960, Edward Shindo and his family lived on Kumu Street, close to Piopio Street. A neighbor told Shindo, “There’s a tidal wave warning but most likely going to be another false alarm.”
Since there had been a number of small tsunamis in the 1950s, some people had become complacent and were reluctant to evacuate. Shindo’s friends kept calling, telling him to get the family to higher ground.
Shindo did evacuate the family, but when 12:30 a.m. came and went, Shindo thought nothing further would happen, and with work the next day, he figured he should return home.
Shindo parked the car on Kilauea Street where Tsuda’s Service Station used to be and his family waited sleepily in the car as Shindo went down to the corner of Kumu Street and talked to the police officer on duty.
Shindo saw lights go up and down in the water, then they saw a wave hit the wall and go straight up. As the wave came in, everything exploded. It sounded like cannons as the transformers blew up. Shindo ran for the car.
The next morning, Shindo found what was left of his home: one wall and the partition between the living room and dining room. The family’s dishes were lodged under the linoleum — and none of them were broken. Shindo’s business, Hilo Soda Works, survived unscathed, but it was nonetheless relocated inland through the Hawaii Redevelopment Agency that implemented a reconstruction plan.
Piopio Street: Janet Fujimoto’s story
At about 12:30 a.m. May 23, 1960, Janet Fujimoto’s family heard over the radio that 3 feet of water had inundated the Naniloa Hotel basement, and that this was probably the extent of the tsunami. The family went to bed.
Then Fujimoto heard a whooshing sound, followed by sharp crackling as short-circuiting occurred in transformers.
Amazingly, Fujimoto had dreams on three nights prior to this night in which a tsunami would prompt her to bring her parents to her room that was situated in the middle of the house.
Now, Fujimoto executed this plan in reality and saved her parents’ lives.
Seconds later, her father’s carpentry equipment came right through her parents’ bedroom as the house was ripped off its foundation. Everything was crashing and flooding from the bottom, with the house spinning.
Then the house anchored on a stone wall, and water continued coming in.
The house was tipped at a 45-degree angle. Suddenly, the water receded, accompanied by strong suction. The family hung on and made it through the night. They were rescued the next morning.
Waiakea clock caretaker
Takayoshi Kanda grew up in Waiakea.
On the evening of May 22, 1960, he joined his friends at the Suisan Fish Market to watch for the waves that had been forecast to arrive. Fortunately, they ran to higher ground when they saw the water recede.
But Kanda was worried about his parents in his childhood home on Kainehe Street, so he sent his daughter and son-in-law to get them.
They were all ready to leave in the car, but his father went back into the house to get something. A wave struck, carrying the house, with his father inside, onto the street. His father was found two days later when the house was demolished.
“Taka” Kanda has been the faithful caretaker of the Waiakea Clock Memorial.
The 35-foot third wave struck at 1:04 a.m. and the clock was frozen in time at that hour. It was salvaged from the rubble, and Taka maintains the memorial site in remembrance of his father and the other tsunami victims.
He purchases the flowers personally and he has a philosophy: First, always put two bouquets there; one would be lonely. Second, put extra flowers there on holidays. Third, the most likely flowers to be stolen are mums. Fourth, put anthuriums there, as they are the least likely to be stolen.
Waiakea and Coconut Island: Lilinoe Keli‘ipio Young’s story
The Waiakea Town part of Hilo was once a thriving area that was home to thousands of residents and about 40 businesses. It was devastated by the 1960 tsunami. Today, the Waiakea area has only a golf course, park and hotels with tsunami-resilient construction.
Right after being born in Hilo Hospital, Lilinoe Keli‘ipio Young went home with her mother — by rowboat. That’s because they lived on Moku Ola, or what most Hilo folks know as Coconut Island. For two generations, the Keli‘ipio family lived on the tiny island as Moku Ola’s caretakers.
What was it like living in their one-bedroom house on Moku Ola?
“It was like we were in our own world,” says Young, who was the eldest child. At Christmas, “Daddy used to take the fronds from the coconut tree, and he would spray them silver, and we’d paint all the little coconut balls, and that would be our Christmas tree.”
Young’s dad rowed people back and forth between the island and what the family called “the mainland.” It cost a nickel each way.
Families would often pay the 5 cents and load up the boat with all their picnic items, and then they would swim across.
The 1960 tsunami brought the Youngs’ idyllic life on Moku Ola to an abrupt end.
They evacuated in plenty of time — thank goodness — because waves scoured the island.
“We lost everything,” Lilinoe Young said. “(Dad) found remnants of our home at Reed’s Bay.”
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April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii, and the theme this year is a Hawaiian proverb, “ ‘Iliki ke kai i ka ‘ope‘ope la, lilo; i lilo no he hawawa,” which is interpreted as, “A person who fails to watch out often loses. Never turn your back on the sea.”
Living on an island, all residents and visitors should be educated on nature’s warning signs of a tsunami, and if observed, should safely evacuate to higher ground.
On Saturday, April 28, the Pacific Tsunami Museum will host a Children’s Day which will include educational activities, songs and stories.
Admission to the event is free.
The Pacific Tsunami Museum is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, call 935-0926.
