The tsunami alert was canceled for the Pacific yesterday after the evacuation of nearly 100,000 people in numerous islands in the wake of Chile's devastating earthquake.
'I think we've dodged a bullet,' one official said in Hawaii.
However Japan warned on Sunday that its northern Pacific coast faced a possible tsunami of 3 meters (10 ft) or more and ordered thousands of coastal residents to evacuate to higher ground, after a massive earthquake in Chile.
The tsunami could hit northern areas of Japan's main island of Honshu around 1 p.m. (11 p.m. EST), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.
The affected coast, where around 140 people died in a previous tsunami 50 years ago, has many small harbors that will concentrate the force of a tsunami.
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"The waves could climb up the land, so for real safety you should evacuate to a place several times higher than the predicted height of the waves," JMA official Yasuo Sekita told a news conference.
The tsunami was racing across the Pacific after one of the world's most powerful earthquakes in a century struck Chile on Saturday, killing more than 300 people.
The tsunami warning covered the eastern seaboard of Japan, although for Tokyo Bay and many other areas the warnings were for waves of only around one meter (3 ft), similar to that seen earlier in Hawaii and New Zealand.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center lifted its widespread warning for most of the Pacific basin, but it remained in effect for Japan and Russia.
The Philippines ordered a limited evacuation along its eastern seaboard and warned of waves about a meter high.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center canceled an alert for Hawaii on Saturday, after waves caused erratic surges in the sea but did not appear to cause significant property damage.
tsunami warnings to be issued for most of the Pacific basin.
Earlier: "We have had a huge earthquake" President Bachelet
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A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, collapsing buildings, killing at least 16 people and downing phone lines. President Michele Bachelet declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile and said the death toll was rising.
"We have had a huge earthquake," said President Bachelet said, speaking from an emergency response center in an appeal for Chileans to remain calm. "We're doing everything we can with all the resources we have."
The quake downed buildings and houses in Santiago and knocked out a major bridge connecting the northern and southern sections of the country.
Tsunami warnings were issued over a wide area, including South America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia and many Pacific islands.
The quake struck at the end of the Chilean summer vacation, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to be traveling back home this weekend.
"The system is functioning," President Bachelet said, " People should remain calm. We're doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately."
Bachelet said early reports were that 16 people had been killed, and "without a doubt, with an earthquake of this magnitude, there will be more deaths."
In the 2 1/2 hours following the 90-second quake, the U.S. Geological Survey reported 11 aftershocks, of which five measured 6.0 or above.
She urged people to avoid traveling in the dark, since traffic lights are down, to avoid causing more fatalities.
The quake hit 200 miles (325 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Santiago, at a depth of 22 miles (35 kilometers) at 3:34 a.m. (0634 GMT; 1:34 a.m. EST), the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
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