(by Harold Goerzen and Ralph Kurtenbach - March 11, 2011) HCJB Global Hands is ready to respond in case a tsunami related to the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked Japan on Friday affects coastal areas of Ecuador. The quake struck in the middle of the afternoon (local time) just off the coast of Honshu, Japan's most populous island.

"We are monitoring the situation on the coast of Ecuador very carefully as there are tsunami warnings for Esmeraldas province and I believe some evacuation of the Galapagos Islands," said Sheila Leech, vice president of international healthcare. "Our mobile medical clinic team is on alert and ready to respond should they be needed in-country."

Kazuo Ozaki, who has been producing Japanese radio programs for HCJB Global since 1964, said it's impossible to know the condition of specific listeners-or even his son Yuji who lives in Tokyo-because "no telephone or email has been working since the quake happened."

"Let's keep up with our prayers so that those who are fighting for their lives will be rescued as soon as possible," he said.

Japanese programs aired by shortwave from Quito ended in 2000 after 36 years. Shortwave broadcasts resumed from HCJB Global-Australia's international broadcast facility in Kununurra, Australia, in 2006, airing on the weekends. Programs are also available on the Internet via on-demand archives and on a digital satellite network in Japan.

"This weekend's program was prepared and recorded ahead of time with no time to replace the program, so I'll have to wait until next Saturday to give my post-quake message," Ozaki added.

By executive order Friday morning, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa declared a 60-day state of emergency due to the threat of a tsunami on the country's Pacific coast later that day. Ecuador's Civil Aviation Authority temporarily closed airports at the coastal cities of Manta, Esmeraldas and Salinas, and at the Galapagos Islands.

A statement on a government website announced the potential of waves as high as 10 feet possibly reaching Ecuador due to the Japan quake. Ecuador's military and national police force was put in charge of overseeing any evacuations of people from the coastal area and the Galapagos.

The government's announcement came just days after many Ecuadorians had flocked to the country's Pacific beaches. Earlier that week, vacationing Ecuadorians had been at beaches celebrating Carnival just prior to Lent.

In Quito, Radio Station HCJB's news department gave updates throughout Friday morning with journalist Betty Guerra also calling reports to HCJB-2 in the coastal city of Guayaquil at regular intervals throughout the day.

A 23-foot tsunami unleashed by Japan's biggest recorded earthquake killed thousands of people as it carried away ships, cars and homes and triggered widespread fires that burned out of control. Hours later the waves washed ashore on Hawaii and the U.S. West coast where evacuations were ordered from California to Washington but little damage was reported. The entire Pacific had been put on alert-including coastal areas of South America, Canada and Alaska-but the waves were not as bad as expected.

Sources: HCJB Global, www.presidencia.gov.ec, Associated Press
Photo credits: www.heraldsun.com, Jason Kottke