Kimmel evacuates Polynesia after tsunami fear

Jimmy Kimmel has been forced to evacuate French Polynesia amid fears that the South Pacific island may be rocked by a tsunami.

The ABC late-night host, who was spending time on the island while on holiday, took to his official Twitter account to admit that the vacation didn't turn out quite like he'd hoped.

"Suddenly, relaxing on an island in the South Pacific isn't so relaxing anymore. Good thing I brought my aqua stilts," he teased.

After later admitting that he was frightened to be stuck on "a small island, with no high ground", Kimmel urged his fans not to worry if he isn't able to continue posting updates on his condition.

Kimmel later revealed that he was being forced to leave French Polynesia amid fears of a potential storm threatening the South Pacific, Hawaii and the West Coast of the US.

The comic wrote: "we are evacuating the island. Dogspeed (sic)."

Last night, a massive earthquake struck Japan and set off a series of large waves heading towards the US coast.