Honolulu (ANTARA News/AFP) - Hawaii authorities issued a tsunami warning on Friday and scrambled to determine the risk of tidal waves reaching the US Pacific island state after a massive earthquake off Japan, officials said.

"An investigation is under way to determine if there is a tsunami threat to Hawaii," said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, based in Ewa Beach, west of Honolulu.

The earliest any waves could hit would be the middle of the night here, at 2:59 a.m. (1459 GMT), it added. Hawaii is some 4,000 miles east of the epicenter of Friday`s earthquake.

The massive quake triggered a tsunami warning for virtually the entire Pacific Ocean, reaching as far as Australia, South America and Antarctica.
(U.KR-BPY/F001)

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