MANILA, Philippines?Alerted by officials shouting through bullhorns and by news on radio and television, tens of thousands of Filipinos fled coastal towns in fear of the tsunami. One town in Aurora province that emptied in the evacuation was Baler, ravaged by a tsunami 275 years ago.

By and large, officials of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Sunday sounded satisfied with the country?s response to the threat of giant waves posed by Saturday?s 8.8-magnitude quake in Chile in South America.

The mammoth quake prompted Phivolcs to alert 19 provinces on the country?s eastern shores against the danger of a tsunami hitting between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

The threat passed without any reported disaster from the tsunami?a series of waves caused either by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, as distinguished from regular waves generated by wind blowing over the sea surface. Tsunamis can have speeds of up to 800 kilometers an hour.

With a rapt world watching the drama unfold on live television, the tsunami from the Chile quake raced across a quarter of the globe, hit Japan?s main islands and even reached the shores of Russia.

Japan evacuated more than 320,000 people as the tsunami sent waves up to 1.20 meters high barreling into its long Pacific coastline.

But the smaller-than-expected waves didn?t cause significant damage. Hawaii and other Pacific islands in their path were also spared.

Deserted Baler

The tsunami threat caused the evacuation of some Philippine towns and villages and the cancellation of a few beach excursions. But some beach lovers ignored the threat.

Residents of Baler in Aurora province heeded the warning.

Baler was where the government in 2005 installed the first tsunami marker in the Philippines?a concrete slab which serves as a reminder of the Dec. 27, 1735, tsunami that wiped out almost an entire community and left only a few survivors.

?Many people left Baler for San Luis and Maria Aurora (towns) to be far from the sea,? Alfonso van Zijl, executive director of the nongovernment organization Bataris, said in a telephone interview. ?They brought their sleeping mats and food with them.?

Some surfers defied the police order to stay out of the water, said Senior Supt. Romulo Esteba, Aurora police director.

Police alerted residents using public address systems mounted on jeepneys. In other areas elsewhere in the country, authorities used megaphones.

In some parishes, priests used Sunday Masses to ask people to leave.

Soldiers, police patrol

Soldiers and police roamed coastal villages facing the Pacific Ocean to make sure residents stayed away from the shorelines.

Naval forces patrolled coastal areas in northern and southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao after the Phivolcs sent out its warning on Saturday night, Navy spokesperson Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo told the Inquirer.

Arevalo said at least six Navy teams equipped with rubber boats and medical kits monitored coastal communities on the eastern side of northern Luzon. Disaster response teams were deployed in the Bicol region and the coastal provinces in Mindanao.

The 130,000-strong Philippine National Police was mobilized for a ?100-percent? implementation of safety measures, said PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina.

The executive director of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), Glenn Rabonza, said 14,900 people evacuated their homes on Siargao Island, a small land mass off Surigao del Norte.

Coast is clear

In other parts of Mindanao, the eastern coast was also clear.

In Digos City in Davao del Sur, people crowded the beach fronts. One beachcomber, Nancy Bajenting, said she was not informed about the tsunami threat.

In Padada town, also in Davao del Sur, Mayor Antonio Razonable ordered the evacuation of 1,000 families. In Mati City in Davao Oriental, some 6,000 residents packed evacuation centers.

Senior Supt. Efren Perez, provincial police chief, said 4,500 people converged on the provincial capitol grounds and at the Mati Sports Complex.

In Tandag, Surigao del Sur, 2,000 people left their homes carrying their pets, bundles of clothes and food. The evacuees said they were scared on hearing the news on radio and TV.

In Albay, Gov. Joey Salceda ordered the evacuation of residents in nine coastal areas.

Salceda said the evacuation of about 5,000 began before Sunday noon.

Alert lifted

?The responses in general were okay but should be improved. They immediately assumed that all tsunami will be high and massive,? said Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum.

Asked to assess the government response to the threat, he said: ?It was OK because certain standard operating procedures were followed and they volunteered for the evacuation.?

The tsunami alert was issued for the provinces of Batanes Group of Islands, Cagayan, northernmost areas of Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Quezon, Aurora, Camarines Sur and Norte, Albay, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Northern and Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte and Del Sur, Davao Oriental and del Sur.

Phivolcs lifted the alert at past 3 p.m.

Pacific-wide alert

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also lifted its warning for every country but Russia and Japan, though some countries in Asia and the Pacific kept their own watches in place as a precaution.

The tsunami raised fears the Pacific could fall victim to the type of devastating waves that killed 230,000 people in the Indian Ocean in 2004 the morning after Christmas. During that disaster, there was little-to-no warning and much confusion about the impending waves.

Officials said the opposite occurred after the Chile quake: They overstated their predictions of the size of the waves and the threat.

Elsewhere, the tsunami passed gently. With reports from Jerome Aning in Manila; Estanislao Caldez, Inquirer Northern Luzon; Eldie Aguirre, Frinston Lim, Orlando Dinoy and Lina Sagaral Reyes, Inquirer Mindanao; and Rey Nasol, Mar Arguelles, Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Jonas Cabiles Soltes and Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon