HAWAII AND OTHER parts of the Pacific are braced for a destructive tsunami today after a massive earthquake struck in Japan.

Low lying islands in the Pacific region could be “totally engulfed”, experts from the Red Cross have warned. Islands in the Asia Pacific region are the most at risk.

The first area to be hit is expected to be Indonesia, affecting the northern and eastern parts of the country, at about 11am GMT.

In the Philippines is expected to be hit next; officials ordered an evacuation of coastal communities along the country’s eastern seaboard in expectation of a tsunami following the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan.

Disaster management officials in Albay province southeast of Manila say they ordered residents to move to designated evacuation sites that are at least 15 feet (5 meters) above sea level.

Hawaii is expecting impact at about 1pm GMT. More than 50 territories and countries have now been issued with tsunami warnings: the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has widened its tsunami warning beyond East Asia early Friday to include Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, the entire US western coast, Mexico and Central and South America and the rest of the Pacific Ocean.

In Guam, authorities advised people to evacuate low areas of the US territory and seek ground higher than 50 feet above sea level and 100 feet inland.

The Northern Mariana Islands, another U.S. territory, was also under the warning, and the Hyatt Regency in Saipan has moved guests to three highest floors of the seven-story hotel.

Australia was not in danger because it was protected by island nations to the north, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, that would largely absorb any wave activity, said Chris Ryan, a forecaster at the National Meteorological and Oceanographic Centre, the Australian government agency that monitors the threat.

Additional reporting by AP