The 7.9 earthquake off Peru generated a tsunami, and tsunami warnings and watches have been issued all up and down the Pacific coasts of South and Central America. Specifically, a warning is in effect for Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica, and a watch is in effect for Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and Honduras. From the official Pacific Tsunami Warning Center advisory:

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. WE HAVE OBSERVED A TSUNAMI SIGNAL ON THE DEEP OCEAN GAUGE OFF NORTHERN CHILE. A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER AND COULD ALSO BE A THREAT TO MORE DISTANT COASTS. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF THE THREAT.

For Peru and parts of Chile and Ecuador, the tsunami, if it’s going to arrive, already has done so (or begun to do so) by now. For the rest of the threatened area, it’s still on its way. The advisory contains a list of estimated arrival times (in Zulu time, which is EDT +4 — so, this post was published at 0234Z).

Authorities are still evaluating whether Hawaii is threatened: “AN EVALUATION OF THE PACIFIC WIDE TSUNAMI THREAT IS UNDERWAY AND THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT HAWAII COULD BE ELEVATED TO A WATCH OR WARNING STATUS.” The good news is, there’s still time to figure it out: if a tsunami is going to hit Hawaii, it wouldn’t arrive until 2:14 AM local time (8:14 AM EDT) at the earliest. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin is covering the story. (Hat tip: Blogs of War, via InstaPundit.)

The west coast of North America is not threatened: “The tsunami is not expected to threaten the US West Coast, BC, or Alaska. Based on the earthquake location, magnitude and observed tsunami records, a damaging tsunami IS NOT expected along the California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska coasts. Some of these areas may experience non-damaging sea level changes.”

UPDATE: Hawaii’s in the clear: “BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII AND THE ADVISORY FOR HAWAII IS…ENDED.”

UPDATE 2: So is everybody else: “THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND/OR WATCH ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED FOR PERU / CHILE / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / PANAMA / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / GUATEMALA / EL SALVADOR / MEXICO / HONDURAS … SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. … NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS ALTHOUGH SOME MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES. FOR ALL AREAS COVERED BY THIS CENTER…THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH ARE CANCELLED.”