Tsunami Warning – Gulf of Alaska

KMPH – 012302
Copy: FSCT

M 7.9 earthquake strikes 280km SE of Kodiak, Alaska —USGS

Magnitude (uncertainty):  7.9 mww (± 0.1)
Location: 56.046°N ,149.073°W (± 5.9 km)
Depth 25.0 km (± 1.8)
Origin Time: 2018-01-23 09:31:42.940 UTC
Region: GULF OF ALASKA
Source: USGS

 

150am | A #TSUNAMI WATCH is in effect for the coast of Washington and Oregon. First waves may arrive around 510am, per the Tsunami Warning Center. Further details/updates can be found at https://t.co/mJ1zkhcdo7 or via NOAA weather radio… #orwx #wawx

— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) January 23, 2018

As a reminder, you can always find the latest forecast, down to the hour, for your specific location, on our site: https://t.co/3SFImIwQhQ.

— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) December 7, 2016

If you are in a #tsunami warning area, move out of the water, off the beach & away from harbors, marinas, breakwaters, bays & inlets. Follow instructions from your local emergency officials because they may have more detailed or specific information for your location.

— Emergency Info BC (@EmergencyInfoBC) January 23, 2018

Tue Jan 23 09:38:01 UTC 2018 event picture pic.twitter.com/AHbKZ8xPuJ

— NWS Tsunami Alerts (@NWS_NTWC) January 23, 2018

Canada:

• Alerts for: Central Coast – coastal sections
• https://www.emergencyinfobc.gov.bc.ca/

–

#tsunami warning for BC notification zones A, B, C & D. More information from Environment Canada: https://t.co/y28IfBkpdm pic.twitter.com/JJrBei92v5

— Emergency Info BC (@EmergencyInfoBC) January 23, 2018

–

FIRE-EARTH Alert: Mass Evacuation Underway in New Zealand amid Major Seismic, Tsunami Threats

Sent by blog contributors

Thousands of people evacuated amid powerful aftershocks, threat of tsunamis, dam collapsing on the Clarence River

Large Earthquake, measuring 7.8Mw, has killed at least 2 people in New Zealand and caused extensive damage to private and public property, destroying roads and other infrastructure, according to the government and local news.

• Significant aftershocks, measuring up to 6.5Mw, have struck eastern and central New Zealand tonight, leaving thousands of residents and tourists stranded.
  • M6.5 struck about 38km WSW of Kaikoura, New Zealand, at a depth of about 10km at 00:34:22 (UTC) today (2016-11-14).
•   More than 500 aftershocks have struck the region, since a large 7.8 magnitude quake struck the South Island.
• Up to a hundred buildings have been damaged in Wellington Central Business District, hundreds of kms from the epicenter.
• A navy boat is on its way from Auckland to help evacuate thousands of stranded tourists. Authorities are also considering using Air Force aircraft.
• Tsunami alerts are in place for ALL coastal areas of New Zealand.
• Tsunami waves of up to 5 meters are expected.
• FIRE-EARTH Forecast is available from FIRE-EARTH PULSARS.

The whole seabed raised out of the ground #kaikoura #eqnz #earthquakenz pic.twitter.com/CbUVW5YjX2

— Lou (@lou_gordongreen) November 14, 2016

Related Links

• Large Earthquake Strikes NNE of Christchurch, NZ
• Large earthquakes: Where next, Auckland, or Wellington?

FIRE-EARTH Alert: EQNZ – M7.8, Tsunami Warnings

Sent by GRACE

CJ Members

Powerful Earthquake Strikes NNE of Christchurch, NZ

Magnitude: 7.8Mw

Location: 42.757°S, 173.077°E
Depth: 23.0km
Time: 2016-11-13 11:02:56UTC
Distances:

• 93.5 km (58.1 mi) NNE Christchurch, New Zealand
• 53km NNE of Amberley, New Zealand [USGS]

Tsunami Threat: Tsunami warnings have been issued for many New Zealand coastal areas.

Estimated Economic Losses: Up to US$1 billion, probability of 34%

Significant Aftershocks:

M5.2
26km W of Kaikoura, New Zealand
2016-11-13 12:37:45 (UTC)

M5.2
51km N of Amberley, New Zealand
2016-11-13 12:25:55 (UTC)
9.6 km

M4.9
23km NW of Kaikoura, New Zealand
2016-11-13 12:20:44 (UTC)
10.5 km

M5.0
46km SSW of Brooklyn, New Zealand
2016-11-13 12:04:15 (UTC)
13.7 km

M5.8
17km N of Kaikoura, New Zealand
2016-11-13 11:52:43 (UTC)
10.0 km

M5.7
32km SSE of Blenheim, New Zealand
2016-11-13 11:41:49 (UTC)
10.0 km

M6.2
28km NW of Kaikoura, New Zealand
2016-11-13 11:32:07 (UTC)
10.0 km

“The initial earthquake was felt widely throughout New Zealand. Currently, there are more than 15,000 Felt reports.There have already been many aftershocks recorded, the largest has a magnitude of 6.2.”

• FIRE-EARTH Forecast is available from FIRE-EARTH PULSARS.

 

Strong Quake Strikes near Ninetyeast Ridge

SEISMIC HAZARD
HEIGHTENED GLOBAL SEISMICITY
SCENARIOS 08, 07
.

M6.4 Event Occurs SW of Sumatra

Centered at 10.056°S, 91.056°E, the event 0curred at a depth depth of 7.1km (4.4mi), prompting Australian authorities to to issue a tsunami warning for Cocos Island, which has since been canceled.

EQ Details

Magnitude: 6.4Mw

Event Time: 2014-06-14 11:11:00UTC

Location: 10.056°S 91.056°E depth=7.1km (4.4mi)
Nearby Cities:

• 671km (417mi) WNW of West Island, Cocos Islands
• 1418km (881mi) WSW of Bengkulu, Indonesia
• 1439km (894mi) SW of Padang, Indonesia
• 1442km (896mi) SW of Sungaipenuh, Indonesia

TSUNAMI SOURCE AND OBSERVATIONS [.bom.gov.au]
An undersea earthquake of magnitude 6.6 occurred at 9:11 PM EST on Saturday 14
June 2014 [2014-06-14 11:11:00UTC] near (?)  SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN (latitude 10.12S, longitude 90.91E) posing a
tsunami threat to Australia.

EQ Location Map

Source: USGS/EHP

---

IMPORTANT NOTICE: FIRE-EARTH EQ Forecast

The next detailed FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecast will be released together with Bulletin NO. 107  on Monday June 16, 2014.

---

 

 

M8.2 Strikes Coast of Chile

SEISMIC HAZARD
LARGE EARTHQUAKE ALONG PERU-CHILE TRENCH
TSUNAMI WARNING
MASS EVACUATIONS
.

Major Earthquake Hits Northern Chile Coastal Area Triggering a Tsunami

10 Significant aftershocks have struck the quake zone including magnitudes 5.7, 6.2, 5.8, 5.7, 5.6, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3, 4.7, 5.2, 4.8, as of posting.

FIRE-EARTH Forecast for the Total Earthquake Energy associated with this Episode ≥ 0.25EJ. See Another significant aftershock… posted on March 17, 2014.

Earthquake Details [USGS/EHP]

Magnitude: 8.2Mw
Location: 19.642°S, 70.817°W
Depth: 20.1km (12.5mi)
Date/Time: 2014-04-01 at 23:46:46 UTC

Nearby Cities:

• 95km (59mi) NW of Iquique, Chile
• 139km (86mi) SSW of Arica, Chile
• 190km (118mi) SSW of Tacna, Peru
• 228km (142mi) SSE of Ilo, Peru
• 447km (278mi) SW of La Paz, Bolivia

Large earthquake strikes Chile, April 1, 2014. Source: USGS/EHP

• Tsunami waves are hitting Pisagua, Patache and Iquique, CHILE, as the  authorities evacuate coastal areas.
• Multiple landslides have blocked several highways,  hampering mass evacuations along coastal areas.
• The quake rattled buildings in Peru and Bolivian capital of La Paz, about 450km (278 miles) away.

Tsunami Warning/Watch

The first tsunami wave hit the coastal area within 45 minutes of the earthquake, said authorities. A tsunami warning has been issued for all of South and Central America’s Pacific coast.

The following bulletin was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Center.

PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 0131Z 02 APR 2014

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME – 2347Z 01 APR 2014
COORDINATES – 19.8 SOUTH 70.8 WEST
DEPTH – 10 KM
LOCATION – NEAR THE COAST OF NORTHERN CHILE
MAGNITUDE – 8.2

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
——————- —– —— —– ————— —–
MEJILLONES CL 23.1S 70.5W 0103Z 0.86M / 2.8FT 32MIN
MATARANI PE 17.0S 72.1W 0108Z 0.56M / 1.8FT 10MIN
TOCOPILLA CL 22.1S 70.2W 0109Z 0.42M / 1.4FT 10MIN
PISAGUA CL 19.6S 70.2W 0055Z 1.96M / 6.4FT 12MIN
ARICA CL 18.5S 70.3W 0021Z 0.98M / 3.2FT 36MIN
ANTOFAGASTA CL 23.7S 70.4W 0034Z 0.25M / 0.8FT 18MIN
PATACHE CL 20.8S 70.2W 0015Z 1.51M / 5.0FT 10MIN
IQUIQUE CL 20.2S 70.1W 0005Z 2.11M / 6.9FT 12MIN

LAT – LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON – LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME – TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER – PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

NOTE – DART MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM THE DEEP OCEAN AND THEY
ARE GENERALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN WOULD BE COASTAL
MEASUREMENTS AT SIMILAR LOCATIONS.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE
BEEN 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 ALL AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS
AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT
OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME
THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN
CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL
CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE
ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS
WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL
ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE
LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
——————————– ———— ————
CHILE IQUIQUE 20.2S 289.9E 0002Z 02 APR
ARICA 18.5S 289.7E 0011Z 02 APR
ANTOFAGASTA 23.3S 289.6E 0017Z 02 APR
CALDERA 27.1S 289.2E 0046Z 02 APR
COQUIMBO 29.9S 288.6E 0111Z 02 APR
VALPARAISO 33.0S 288.4E 0135Z 02 APR
TALCAHUANO 36.7S 286.9E 0219Z 02 APR
CORRAL 39.8S 286.5E 0251Z 02 APR
GOLFO_DE_PENAS 47.1S 285.1E 0403Z 02 APR
EASTER_ISLAND 27.1S 250.6E 0532Z 02 APR
PUERTO_MONTT 41.5S 287.0E 0546Z 02 APR
PERU MOLLENDO 17.1S 288.0E 0021Z 02 APR
SAN_JUAN 15.3S 284.8E 0039Z 02 APR
LA_PUNTA 12.1S 282.8E 0131Z 02 APR
TALARA 4.6S 278.5E 0218Z 02 APR
CHIMBOTE 9.0S 281.2E 0225Z 02 APR
PIMENTAL 6.9S 280.0E 0250Z 02 APR
ECUADOR LA_LIBERTAD 2.2S 278.8E 0239Z 02 APR
ESMERELDAS 1.2N 280.2E 0327Z 02 APR
BALTRA_ISLAND 0.5S 269.7E 0429Z 02 APR
COLOMBIA TUMACO 1.8N 281.1E 0346Z 02 APR
BAHIA_SOLANO 6.3N 282.6E 0417Z 02 APR
BUENAVENTURA 3.8N 282.8E 0433Z 02 APR
PANAMA PUERTO_PINA 7.4N 282.0E 0427Z 02 APR
PUNTA_MALA 7.5N 280.0E 0429Z 02 APR
PUNTA_BURICA 8.0N 277.1E 0441Z 02 APR
BALBOA_HEIGHTS 9.0N 280.4E 0645Z 02 APR
COSTA RICA CABO_MATAPALO 8.4N 276.7E 0441Z 02 APR
PUERTO_QUEPOS 9.4N 275.8E 0514Z 02 APR
CABO_SAN_ELENA 10.9N 274.0E 0531Z 02 APR
NICARAGUA SAN_JUAN_DL_SUR 11.2N 274.1E 0557Z 02 APR
PUERTO_SANDINO 12.2N 273.2E 0609Z 02 APR
CORINTO 12.5N 272.8E 0609Z 02 APR
EL SALVADOR ACAJUTLA 13.6N 270.2E 0628Z 02 APR
GUATEMALA SIPICATE 13.9N 268.8E 0642Z 02 APR
MEXICO PUERTO_MADERO 14.8N 267.5E 0649Z 02 APR
ACAPULCO 16.9N 260.1E 0711Z 02 APR
SALINA_CRUZ 16.5N 264.8E 0713Z 02 APR
HONDURAS AMAPALA 13.2N 272.4E 0655Z 02 APR

BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL
FURTHER NOTICE.

THE U.S. NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA…WASHINGTON…OREGON…CALIFORNIA.

See also:

FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecast for Chile (March 17, 2014) and the update posted at Another Significant Aftershock Strikes Coastal Chile.

FIRE-EARTH Models show a large earthquake could strike along Peru-Chile Trench in the coming weeks.

Tsunami Forecast: Large tsunami waves highly probable.

Forecast Details

• Magnitude: ≥8.2Mw
• Location: 23.6°S, 70.8ºW
• Depth: 30km
• Time: March 17 – April 29, 2014
• Probability of Occurrence: 0.75
• Total Earthquake Energy for the Episode ≥ 0.25EJ

Related Links

• Enhanced Seismicity Continues Along Peru-Chile Trench on March 24, 2014
• Significant Seismic Activity Continues Along Peru-Chile Trench March 22, 2014
• FIRE-EARTH Forecast: Large Earthquake Could Strike Peru-Chile Trench March 17, 2014
• Another Significant Aftershock Strikes Coastal Chile March 17, 2014
• Intense Seismicity Along Peru-Chile Trench March 16, 2014

State of Disaster Declared in Solomon Islands

Significant aftershocks continue to pound Santa Cruz Islands region as govt. declares a State of Disaster

Solomon Islands government has declared a State of Disaster for Santa Cruz Islands after a meter-high tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.0 quake engulfed the region on Wednesday.

• At least nine people are dead and many are missing after the tsunami damaged or destroyed more than 20 villages.

• Officials say scope of the disaster is much worse than initially thought and they  still don’t know the fate of the more outlying villages in the reef islands.

• The tsunami has wept away entire villages, spreading debris everywhere.

• “The force behind the meter-high [tsunami] wave swept everything in its path, especially in low-lying areas,” said an official.

•  “Many people have no clothes at all, everything was washed away.”

• Authorities say about 7,000 people have been displaced as a result of the tsunami,  but the number could reach much higher.

Earthquake Location Map – Santa Cruz Islands Region

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP

More than 150 aftershocks have rocked the Santa Cruz Island region following the main shock that struck on Wednesday, February 06, 2013.

• A 6.6Mw aftershock struck about 36 km (22 miles) SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands at a depth of about 10km on Thursday, February 07, 2013 at 18:59:16 UTC, USGS/EHP reported.

Related Links

• Tsunami Warning: Powerful Quake Off Solomon Islands February 6, 2013

Tsunami Warning: Powerful Quake Off Solomon Islands

TSUNAMI WARNING after 8.0Mw Strikes off Solomon Islands

A powerful 8.0Mw earthquake in the South Pacific generated a tsunami. Several villages on the Solomon Islands have been destroyed by the quake/tsunami, news agencies quoting the local police have reported.

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

SOLOMON ISLANDS / VANUATU / NAURU / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / TUVALU / NEW CALEDONIA / KOSRAE / FIJI / KIRIBATI / WALLIS AND FUTUNA / MARSHALL ISLANDS / HOWLAND AND BAKER / POHNPEI / TOKELAU

Message Type:

Expanding Regional Tsunami Warning Supplement

Warning:

Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, Wallis and Futuna, Marshall Islands, Howland and Baker, Pohnpei, Tokelau A Tsunami Watch is in Effect For Samoa, Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, American Samoa, Tonga, Australia, Niue, Cook Islands, Indonesia, Wake Island, Chuuk, Jarvis Island, Guam, Northern Marianas, Palmyra Island, Yap, Johnston Island, Minamitorishima, Belau, Midway Island… Tsunami Updates: http://ptwc.weather.gov/

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR

SAMOA / KERMADEC ISLANDS / NEW ZEALAND / AMERICAN SAMOA / TONGA / AUSTRALIA / NIUE / COOK  ISLANDS / INDONESIA / WAKE ISLAND / CHUUK / JARVIS ISLAND / GUAM / NORTHERN MARIANAS /
PALMYRA ISLAND / YAP / JOHNSTON ISLAND / MINAMITORISHIMA / BELAU / MIDWAY ISLAND

TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT NUMBER 2
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
413 PM HST TUE FEB 05 2013

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS ISSUED AN EXPANDING REGIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH FOR PARTS OF THE PACIFIC LOCATED CLOSER TO THE EARTHQUAKE. 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.

• IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THEIR ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL TIME IS 10:04 PM HST TUE 05 FEB 2013

• THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS FOR ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA…WASHINGTON…OREGON…CALIFORNIA.

Earthquake Location Map

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP

Earthquake Details

• Magnitude:  8.0
• Date-Time: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 at 01:12:23 UTC
  • Wednesday, February 06, 2013 at 12:12:23 PM at epicenter

• Location:  10.752°S, 165.089°E
• Depth 5.8 km (3.6 miles) (poorly constrained)
• Region SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
• Distances:
  • 81 km (50 miles) W of Lata, Solomon Islands
  • 575 km (357 miles) NNW of Luganville, Vanuatu

• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 15.3 km (9.5 miles); depth +/- 6.9 km (4.3 miles)
• Source:  USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Aftershocks:

• Five significant aftershocks as of posting including 6.6 and 6.4Mw  (USGS)

M7.3 Quake Strikes Off the East Coast of Honshu, Japan

Powerful quake prompts tsunami warning along Miyagi Pref coast, Japan

Magnitude: 7.3Mw
Depth: 10 km
Date and Time:  07 December 2012 @ 17:18 JST
Location: 37.8Nº, 144.2Eº
Region:  Sanriku Oki
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)

Earthquake Location Map. Source: JMA

Tsunami Warnings and Advisories

JMA has posted the following Tsunami Warning and Advisories on its website:

• Tsunami Warnings  have been issued for the following coastal regions of Japan:  MIYAGI PREF.
• Evacuate immediately to safe place away from the shore in the above coastal regions.
• Tsunami advisories are currently in effect in other coastal regions of Japan:
  • PACIFIC COAST OF AOMORI PREF.
    IWATE PREF.
    FUKUSHIMA PREF.
    IBARAKI PREF.

Japan Tsunami Warning Map. Source: JMA

Japan Tsunami Warning Map Update. Source: JMA

Aftershocks

Related Links

• Japan Quakes
• Japan 7.2 Quake Strikes Off the Coast of Honshu Posted March 9, 2011

Italy Scientists Convicted Over Quake Warning Failure

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,236 Days Left 

[October 23, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. 

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,236 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Italy quake scientists guilty of manslaughter

Six scientists and a government official were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 6 years in prison by an Italian court for failing to give adequate warning of the 2009 deadly earthquake in L’Aquila that killed at least 309 people,  left more than a thousand injured  and destroyed tens of thousands of homes and other buildings.

• The prosecutors successfully argued that the experts had had provided “incomplete, imprecise and contradictory” statements, despite the warning signs, “playing down the threat of a repeat of the earthquakes which wrecked the town in 1349, 1461 and 1703, saying the smaller shocks were a ‘normal geological phenomenon,'” said a report.

• The prosecution had accused the seven, all members of a body called the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, “of negligence and malpractice in evaluating the danger and keeping the central city informed of the risks,” the report said.

• The Commission had met on March 31, 2009, a few days before the M6.3 earthquake struck, but failed to provide adequate information on the dangers despite clusters of low-level tremors that occurred the region in the months preceding the deadly quake.

• In addition to their sentences, the Commission members have been barred from ever holding public office again, La Repubblica reported.

• It remains to be seen whether the justice systems in the U.S., Japan and New Zealand, among other countries, would bring similar action against their scientists and officials for failing to warn the public about the deadly earthquakes and tsunami that have occurred in those countries.

• Any expert who asserts earthquakes were “inherently unpredictable” should not be allowed to hold office, or teach science. [All of the above, of course, is academic now.]

Related Links

• The Ghost of L’Aquila Quake Posted on April 22, 2009
• Magnitude 6.3 quake strikes Italy Posted on April 6, 2009
• Italy Quake Update Posted on April 8, 2009

• Images of the deadly quake near Rome
• Magnitude 6.3 quake strikes Italy
• Earthquakes
• More photos

• Row over Italian quake ‘forecast’

• NZ scientists: Intellectual rigor mortis set? Posted on March 18, 2011

Powerful Quake Strikes E of Sulangan, Philippines

M7.9 Quake Strikes E Philippines, Tsunami Warning in Effect

Powerful earthquake struck Philippine Islands Region about 106 km (66 miles) ESE (102°) from Guiuan, Samar, Philippines, USGS/EHP reported.

TSUNAMI STATUS: WARNING, WATCH

Expanding Regional Warning

TSUNAMI WARNING:

Indonesia, Philippines, Belau, Yap, Taiwan, Japan, Guam, N. Marianas, Papua New Guinea A Tsunami Watch is in Effect For Chuuk, Marcus Is., Kosrae, Pohnpei, Marshall Is., Wake Is., Solomon Is., Russia, Nauru

• Expanding Regional Warning

BULLETIN
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 1 – NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI, 2:57AM HST FRI AUG 31, 2012
A TSUNAMI WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT 02:57AM HST.

EVALUATION: BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY THIS EARTHQUAKE THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ON COASTAL AREAS EVEN FAR FROM THE EPICENTER. AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS A TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THE ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS 12:28PM HST FRI 31 AUG 2012

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP

EQ Details [USGS]

• Date-Time: Friday, August 31, 2012 at 12:47:34 UTC
• Location: 10.828°N, 126.677°E
• Depth:  34.9 km (21.7 miles)
• Region: Philippine Islands Region
• Distances:
  • 106 km (66 miles) ESE (102°) from Guiuan, Samar, Philippines
  • 175 km (109 miles) NE (48°) from Surigao, Mindanao, Philippines
  • 749 km (465 miles) SE (124°) from MANILA, Philippines

• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 13.7 km (8.5 miles); depth +/- 5.8 km (3.6 miles)

EQ Details [GEOFON Program]

• Magnitude: 7.5 (Mw)
• Time: 2012-08-31 12:47:32.2 UTC
• Epicenter: 126.82°E 10.82°N
• Depth: 10 km
• Status: C – confirmed

Other Significant Quakes

• M6.8; 71.461°N, 10.919°W; 99km NW of Olonkinbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen [935km (581mi) NNE of Reykjavik, Iceland;]2012-08-30 at 13:43UTC, at a depth of 9.9km.

Related Links

• FEWW Volcano Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Earthquake Links

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

GLOBAL WARNING

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!

M7.6 Quake Strikes Vanuatu Region

Powerful 7.6Mw Quake Strikes Near Isangel, Vanuatu

The earthquake struck at a depth of 20 km, possibly creating a local tsunami

This earthquake was preceded by at least 3 significant foreshocks in the past 48 hours, the largest of which measured 5.7Mw.

FIRE-EARTH Forecast:  A megaquake could strike Vanuatu Region/ Kermadec Islands Region/New Zealand with a probability of 68%.

10-degree Map Centered at 20°S,170°E

EQ Location Map. Source: USGS. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH

Tsunami Warning/Advisory

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has just issued the following Bulletin

WEPA40 PHEB 251326
TSUPAC

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1326Z 25 DEC 2010

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS…EXCEPT ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA…
WASHINGTON…OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

… A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT …

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

VANUATU / NEW CALEDONIA / FIJI

FOR ALL OTHER AREAS COVERED BY THIS BULLETIN… IT IS FOR
INFORMATION ONLY AT THIS TIME.

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME – 1317Z 25 DEC 2010
COORDINATES – 19.7 SOUTH 168.0 EAST
DEPTH – 33 KM
LOCATION – VANUATU ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE – 7.6

EVALUATION

IT IS NOT KNOWN THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. THIS WARNING IS
BASED ONLY ON THE EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION. AN EARTHQUAKE OF THIS
SIZE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THAT CAN
STRIKE COASTLINES IN THE REGION NEAR THE EPICENTER WITHIN MINUTES
TO HOURS. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE
ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL MONITOR
SEA LEVEL GAUGES NEAREST THE REGION AND REPORT IF ANY TSUNAMI
WAVE ACTIVITY IS OBSERVED. THE WARNING WILL NOT EXPAND TO OTHER
AREAS OF THE PACIFIC UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED TO
WARRANT SUCH AN EXPANSION.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS
WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL
ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE
LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
——————————– ———— ————
VANUATU ANATOM IS. 20.2S 169.9E 1338Z 25 DEC
ESPERITU SANTO 15.1S 167.3E 1404Z 25 DEC
NEW CALEDONIA NOUMEA 22.3S 166.5E 1359Z 25 DEC
FIJI SUVA 18.5S 178.5E 1512Z 25 DEC

BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA…WASHINGTON…OREGON…CALIFORNIA.

Earthquake Details

GFZ Potsdam – Earthquake Bulletin
Region: Vanuatu Islands Region
Time: 2010-12-25 13:16:38.7 UTC
Magnitude: 7.7
Epicenter: 167.96°E, 19.76°S
Depth: 20 km
Status: manually revised

USGS/EHP

• Magnitude: 7.6
• Date-Time: Saturday, December 25, 2010 at 13:16:38 UTC
• Location: 19.759°S, 167.974°E
• Depth: 24.4 km (15.2 miles)
• Region: VANUATU REGION

• Distances
  • 138 km (86 miles) W (259°) from Isangel, Vanuatu
  • 196 km (122 miles) N (3°) from Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
  • 226 km (140 miles) S (189°) from PORT-VILA, Vanuatu
  • 1,749 km (1087 miles) ENE (64°) from Brisbane, Australia

• Location Uncertainty:
  • horizontal +/- 16.3 km (10.1 miles);
  • depth +/- 1.4 km (0.9 miles)

• Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: World Data Center for Seismology, Denver
• Event ID usc0000usf

Aftershocks

Hundreds of aftershocks should be expected to strike the area in the coming days and weeks.

Related Links:

• Global Earthquakes Tempi Rising
• 3 Waves of Significant Quakes Strike Our Planet
• Global Earthquakes
• Japan Earthquakes
• Arabia Shakes

• FEWW Volcano Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Earthquake Links

Destructive Tsunami Generated by Chile Quake

A WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 005
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1045UTC 27 FEB 2010

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS, EXCEPT ALASKA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, OREGON AND CALIFORNIA. [SEE below for other bulletins with those areas included ]

Chile Tsunami preliminary forecast model energy map (WCATWC/NOAA). Click image to enlarge.

Source: NOAA/NWS/West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. Click image to enlarge.

* A WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT *

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

CHILE / PERU / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / ANTARCTICA / PANAMA / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / PITCAIRN / HONDURAS / EL SALVADOR / GUATEMALA / FR. POLYNESIA / MEXICO / COOK ISLANDS / KIRIBATI / KERMADEC IS / NIUE / NEW ZEALAND / TONGA / AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA / JARVIS IS. / WALLIS-FUTUNA / TOKELAU / FIJI / AUSTRALIA / HAWAII / PALMYRA IS. / TUVALU / VANUATU / HOWLAND-BAKER / NEW CALEDONIA / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / NAURU / MARSHALL IS. / MIDWAY IS. / KOSRAE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / POHNPEI / WAKE IS. / CHUUK / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / INDONESIA / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / YAP / BELAU / JAPAN / PHILIPPINES / CHINESE TAIPEI

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME – 0634Z 27 FEB 2010
COORDINATES – 36.1 SOUTH 72.6 WEST
DEPTH – 55 KM
LOCATION – NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
MAGNITUDE – 8.8

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
——————- —– —— —– ————— —–
IQUIQUE CL 20.2S 70.1W 0906Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 72MIN
ANTOFAGASTA CL 23.2S 70.4W 0941Z 0.49M / 1.6FT 52MIN
ARICA CL 18.5S 70.3W 1007Z 0.94M / 3.1FT 44MIN
DART LIMA 32412 18.0S 86.4W 0941Z 0.24M / 0.8FT 36MIN
CALDERA CL 27.1S 70.8W 0843Z 0.45M / 1.5FT 20MIN
TALCAHUANO CL 36.7S 73.4W 0653Z 2.34M / 7.7FT 88MIN
COQUIMBO CL 30.0S 71.3W 0852Z 1.32M / 4.3FT 30MIN
CORRAL CL 39.9S 73.4W 0739Z 0.90M / 2.9FT 16MIN
SAN FELIX CL 26.3S 80.1W 0815Z 0.53M / 1.7FT 08MIN
VALPARAISO CL 33.0S 71.6W 0708Z 1.29M / 4.2FT 20MIN

LAT – LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON – LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME – TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER – PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS CONFIRM THAT A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED WHICH COULD CAUSE WIDESPREAD DAMAGE. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS THREAT. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF THE THREAT.

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND CAN VARY SIGNIFICANTLY ALONG A COAST DUE TO LOCAL EFFECTS. THE TIME FROM ONE TSUNAMI WAVE TO THE NEXT CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO AN HOUR, AND THE THREAT CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AS MULTIPLE WAVES ARRIVE.

FOR ALL AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
——————————– ———— ————
CHILE TALCAHUANO 36.7S 73.1W 0729Z 27 FEB
VALPARAISO 33.0S 71.6W 0739Z 27 FEB
COQUIMBO 29.9S 71.3W 0801Z 27 FEB
CORRAL 39.8S 73.5W 0810Z 27 FEB
CALDERA 27.1S 70.8W 0821Z 27 FEB
ANTOFAGASTA 23.3S 70.4W 0844Z 27 FEB
IQUIQUE 20.2S 70.1W 0911Z 27 FEB
ARICA 18.5S 70.3W 0929Z 27 FEB
GOLFO DE PENAS 47.1S 74.9W 0934Z 27 FEB
PUERTO MONTT 41.5S 73.0W 1052Z 27 FEB
EASTER IS. 27.1S 109.4W 1205Z 27 FEB
PUNTA ARENAS 53.2S 70.9W 1213Z 27 FEB
PUERTO WILLIAMS 54.8S 68.2W 1404Z 27 FEB
PERU MOLLENDO 17.1S 72.0W 0936Z 27 FEB
SAN JUAN 15.3S 75.2W 0952Z 27 FEB
LA PUNTA 12.1S 77.2W 1045Z 27 FEB
PIMENTAL 6.9S 80.0W 1114Z 27 FEB
TALARA 4.6S 81.5W 1127Z 27 FEB
CHIMBOTE 9.0S 78.8W 1132Z 27 FEB
ECUADOR LA LIBERTAD 2.2S 81.2W 1202Z 27 FEB
ESMERELDAS 1.2N 79.8W 1234Z 27 FEB
BALTRA IS. 0.5S 90.3W 1313Z 27 FEB
COLOMBIA TUMACO 1.8N 78.9W 1253Z 27 FEB
BAHIA SOLANO 6.3N 77.4W 1327Z 27 FEB
BUENAVENTURA 3.8N 77.2W 1340Z 27 FEB
ANTARCTICA THURSTON IS. 72.0S 100.0W 1312Z 27 FEB
CAPE ADARE 71.0S 170.0E 1650Z 27 FEB
PANAMA PUERTO PINA 7.4N 78.1W 1331Z 27 FEB
PUNTA MALA 7.5N 79.9W 1334Z 27 FEB
PUNTA BURICA 8.0N 82.8W 1340Z 27 FEB
BALBOA HTS. 9.0N 79.6W 1457Z 27 FEB
COSTA RICA CABO MATAPALO 8.4N 83.3W 1344Z 27 FEB
PUERTO QUEPOS 9.4N 84.2W 1417Z 27 FEB
CABO SAN ELENA 10.9N 86.0W 1452Z 27 FEB
NICARAGUA SAN JUAN DL SUR 11.2N 85.9W 1452Z 27 FEB
PUERTO SANDINO 12.2N 86.8W 1512Z 27 FEB
CORINTO 12.5N 87.2W 1520Z 27 FEB
PITCAIRN PITCAIRN IS. 25.1S 130.1W 1455Z 27 FEB
HONDURAS AMAPALA 13.2N 87.6W 1520Z 27 FEB
EL SALVADOR ACAJUTLA 13.6N 89.8W 1531Z 27 FEB
GUATEMALA SIPICATE 13.9N 91.2W 1539Z 27 FEB
FR. POLYNESIA RIKITEA 23.1S 135.0W 1542Z 27 FEB
HIVA OA 10.0S 139.0W 1723Z 27 FEB
PAPEETE 17.5S 149.6W 1748Z 27 FEB
MEXICO PUERTO MADERO 14.8N 92.5W 1552Z 27 FEB
ACAPULCO 16.9N 99.9W 1615Z 27 FEB
MANZANILLO 19.1N 104.3W 1709Z 27 FEB
SOCORRO 18.8N 111.0W 1719Z 27 FEB
CABO SAN LUCAS 22.8N 110.0W 1749Z 27 FEB
MAZATLAN 23.2N 106.4W 1753Z 27 FEB
PUNTA ABREOJOS 26.7N 113.6W 1856Z 27 FEB
ENSENADA 31.8N 116.8W 2016Z 27 FEB
COOK ISLANDS RAROTONGA 21.2S 159.8W 1814Z 27 FEB
PENRYN IS. 8.9S 157.8W 1925Z 27 FEB
PUKAPUKA IS. 10.8S 165.9W 1950Z 27 FEB
KIRIBATI FLINT IS. 11.4S 151.8W 1836Z 27 FEB
MALDEN IS. 3.9S 154.9W 1934Z 27 FEB
CHRISTMAS IS. 2.0N 157.5W 2028Z 27 FEB
KANTON IS. 2.8S 171.7W 2112Z 27 FEB
TARAWA IS. 1.5N 173.0E 2258Z 27 FEB
KERMADEC IS RAOUL IS. 29.2S 177.9W 1912Z 27 FEB
NIUE NIUE IS. 19.0S 170.0W 1918Z 27 FEB
NEW ZEALAND EAST CAPE 37.7S 178.5E 1918Z 27 FEB
GISBORNE 38.7S 178.0E 1922Z 27 FEB
DUNEDIN 45.9S 170.5E 1952Z 27 FEB
NAPIER 39.5S 176.9E 1954Z 27 FEB
WELLINGTON 41.3S 174.8E 1955Z 27 FEB
MILFORD SOUND 44.6S 167.9E 2005Z 27 FEB
NORTH CAPE 34.4S 173.3E 2010Z 27 FEB
BLUFF 46.6S 168.3E 2030Z 27 FEB
LYTTELTON 43.6S 172.7E 2040Z 27 FEB
AUCKLAND(E) 36.7S 175.0E 2056Z 27 FEB
NELSON 41.3S 173.3E 2127Z 27 FEB
WESTPORT 41.8S 171.6E 2129Z 27 FEB
AUCKLAND(W) 37.1S 174.2E 2140Z 27 FEB
NEW PLYMOUTH 39.1S 174.1E 2219Z 27 FEB
TONGA NUKUALOFA 21.0S 175.2W 1940Z 27 FEB
AMERICAN SAMOA PAGO PAGO 14.3S 170.7W 1951Z 27 FEB
SAMOA APIA 13.8S 171.8W 2006Z 27 FEB
JARVIS IS. JARVIS IS. 0.4S 160.1W 2026Z 27 FEB
WALLIS-FUTUNA WALLIS IS. 13.2S 176.2W 2028Z 27 FEB
TOKELAU NUKUNONU IS. 9.2S 171.8W 2030Z 27 FEB
FIJI SUVA 18.1S 178.4E 2104Z 27 FEB
AUSTRALIA HOBART 43.3S 147.6E 2105Z 27 FEB
SYDNEY 33.9S 151.4E 2146Z 27 FEB
BRISBANE 27.2S 153.3E 2310Z 27 FEB
GLADSTONE 23.8S 151.4E 0101Z 28 FEB
CAIRNS 16.7S 145.8E 0159Z 28 FEB
MACKAY 21.1S 149.3E 0251Z 28 FEB
HAWAII HILO 19.7N 155.1W 2119Z 27 FEB
HONOLULU 21.3N 157.9W 2152Z 27 FEB
NAWILIWILI 22.0N 159.4W 2158Z 27 FEB
PALMYRA IS. PALMYRA IS. 6.3N 162.4W 2124Z 27 FEB
TUVALU FUNAFUTI IS. 7.9S 178.5E 2125Z 27 FEB
VANUATU ANATOM IS. 20.2S 169.9E 2137Z 27 FEB
ESPERITU SANTO 15.1S 167.3E 2235Z 27 FEB
HOWLAND-BAKER HOWLAND IS. 0.6N 176.6W 2154Z 27 FEB
NEW CALEDONIA NOUMEA 22.3S 166.5E 2218Z 27 FEB
JOHNSTON IS. JOHNSTON IS. 16.7N 169.5W 2245Z 27 FEB
SOLOMON IS. KIRAKIRA 10.4S 161.9E 2321Z 27 FEB
MUNDA 8.4S 157.2E 0001Z 28 FEB
GHATERE 7.8S 159.2E 0001Z 28 FEB
AUKI 8.8S 160.6E 0004Z 28 FEB
HONIARA 9.3S 160.0E 0004Z 28 FEB
FALAMAE 7.4S 155.6E 0017Z 28 FEB
PANGGOE 6.9S 157.2E 0020Z 28 FEB
NAURU NAURU 0.5S 166.9E 2331Z 27 FEB
MARSHALL IS. MAJURO 7.1N 171.4E 2339Z 27 FEB
KWAJALEIN 8.7N 167.7E 0013Z 28 FEB
ENIWETOK 11.4N 162.3E 0102Z 28 FEB
MIDWAY IS. MIDWAY IS. 28.2N 177.4W 0022Z 28 FEB
KOSRAE KOSRAE IS. 5.5N 163.0E 0026Z 28 FEB
PAPUA NEW GUINE AMUN 6.0S 154.7E 0036Z 28 FEB
KIETA 6.1S 155.6E 0038Z 28 FEB
RABAUL 4.2S 152.3E 0102Z 28 FEB
PORT MORESBY 9.3S 146.9E 0123Z 28 FEB
LAE 6.8S 147.0E 0128Z 28 FEB
KAVIENG 2.5S 150.7E 0135Z 28 FEB
MADANG 5.2S 145.8E 0154Z 28 FEB
MANUS IS. 2.0S 147.5E 0214Z 28 FEB
WEWAK 3.5S 143.6E 0237Z 28 FEB
VANIMO 2.6S 141.3E 0258Z 28 FEB
POHNPEI POHNPEI IS. 7.0N 158.2E 0111Z 28 FEB
WAKE IS. WAKE IS. 19.3N 166.6E 0112Z 28 FEB
CHUUK CHUUK IS. 7.4N 151.8E 0213Z 28 FEB
RUSSIA MEDNNY IS 54.7N 167.4E 0236Z 28 FEB
UST KAMCHATSK 56.1N 162.6E 0302Z 28 FEB
PETROPAVLOVSK K 53.2N 159.6E 0333Z 28 FEB
URUP IS 46.1N 150.5E 0354Z 28 FEB
SEVERO KURILSK 50.8N 156.1E 0410Z 28 FEB
MARCUS IS. MARCUS IS. 24.3N 154.0E 0248Z 28 FEB
INDONESIA JAYAPURA 2.4S 140.8E 0302Z 28 FEB
WARSA 0.6S 135.8E 0345Z 28 FEB
MANOKWARI 0.8S 134.2E 0405Z 28 FEB
SORONG 0.8S 131.1E 0433Z 28 FEB
BEREBERE 2.5N 128.7E 0452Z 28 FEB
PATANI 0.4N 128.8E 0505Z 28 FEB
GEME 4.6N 126.8E 0512Z 28 FEB
N. MARIANAS SAIPAN 15.3N 145.8E 0303Z 28 FEB
GUAM GUAM 13.4N 144.7E 0311Z 28 FEB
YAP YAP IS. 9.5N 138.1E 0352Z 28 FEB
BELAU MALAKAL 7.3N 134.5E 0413Z 28 FEB
JAPAN KUSHIRO 42.9N 144.3E 0435Z 28 FEB
KATSUURA 35.1N 140.3E 0453Z 28 FEB
HACHINOHE 40.5N 141.5E 0509Z 28 FEB
SHIMIZU 32.8N 133.0E 0557Z 28 FEB
OKINAWA 26.2N 127.8E 0610Z 28 FEB
PHILIPPINES DAVAO 6.8N 125.7E 0527Z 28 FEB
PALANAN 17.1N 122.6E 0559Z 28 FEB
LEGASPI 13.2N 123.8E 0604Z 28 FEB
CHINESE TAIPEI HUALIEN 24.0N 121.6E 0626Z 28 FEB
HUALIEN 24.0N 121.7E 0626Z 28 FEB
CHILUNG 25.2N 121.8E 0654Z 28 FEB
TAITUNG 22.7N 121.2E 0655Z 28 FEB

BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

WEPA41 PAAQ 271403
TSUWCA

BULLETIN
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 8
NWS WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER AK
552 AM PST SAT FEB 27 2010

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER…

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF OREGON – WASHINGTON – BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER TO KODIAK ALASKA…

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF ALASKA FROM KODIAK ALASKA TO ATTU ALASKA…

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED WHICH COULD IMPACT THE ADVISORY REGIONS LISTED IN THE HEADLINE. PERSONS IN LOW-LYING COASTAL AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT TO INSTRUCTIONS FROM THEIR LOCAL EMERGENCY OFFICIALS. EVACUATIONS ARE ONLY ORDERED BY EMERGENCY RESPONSE AGENCIES.
– PERSONS IN TSUNAMI ADVISORY AREAS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WATER… OFF THE BEACH AND OUT OF HARBORS AND MARINAS.

THIS MESSAGE IS BASED ON EARTHQUAKE DATA… OBSERVED TSUNAMI AMPLITUDES… HISTORICAL INFORMATION AND FORECAST MODELS.

A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN OBSERVED AT THE FOLLOWING SITES

LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL
———————— —– —— ——- ———–
74MIN TALCAHUANO C 36.7S 73.1W 0657UTC 1.84M/6.1FT
40MIN SAN FELIX CH 26.3S 80.1W 0832UTC 0.81M/2.7FT
57MIN CALDERA CHIL 27.1S 70.8W 0746UTC 0.52M/1.7FT
47MIN COQUIMBO CHI 29.9S 71.3W 0902UTC 1.27M/4.2FT
78MIN IQUIQUE CHIL 20.2S 70.2W 0851UTC 0.30M/1.0FT
57MIN ANTOFAGASTA 23.3S 70.4W 0956UTC 0.46M/1.5FT
84MIN ANCUD CHILE 41.9S 74.3W 0943UTC 0.34M/1.1FT
30MIN CORRAL CHILE 39.9S 73.4W 1012UTC 1.54M/5.1FT
56MIN CALLAO LA PUN 12.1S 77.2W 1029UTC 0.66M/2.2FT
52MIN BALTRA ECUAD 0.4S 90.3W 1251UTC 0.35M/1.2FT

TIME – TIME OF MEASUREMENT
AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDES ARE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).

PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
MAGNITUDE – 8.8
TIME – 2134 AKST FEB 26 2010
2234 PST FEB 26 2010
0634 UTC FEB 27 2010
LOCATION – 36.1 SOUTH 72.6 WEST
– NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
DEPTH – 19 MILES/31 KM

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER IN EWA BEACH HAWAII WILL ISSUE MESSAGES FOR HAWAII AND OTHER AREAS OF THE PACIFIC OUTSIDE THE STATES AND PROVINCES PREVIOUSLY LISTED.

TSUNAMI ADVISORIES MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR THE WATER IS IMMINENT OR EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD INUNDATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS UNDER AN ADVISORY. CURRENTS MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO SWIMMERS… BOATS… AND COASTAL STRUCTURES AND MAY CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL.

THIS MESSAGE WILL BE UPDATED IN 60 MINUTES OR SOONER IF THE SITUATION WARRANTS. THE TSUNAMI MESSAGE WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. REFER TO THE INTERNET SITE WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV FOR MORE INFORMATION.

PZZ650-655-673-750-775-565-670-530-535-545-560-455-540-450-
CAZ039>043-087-034-035-530-006-506-508-509-529-002-505-001-
271522-
/O.CON.PAAQ.TS.Y.0005.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/
COASTAL AREAS BETWEEN AND INCLUDING THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER
552 AM PST SAT FEB 27 2010

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER…

PERSONS IN TSUNAMI ADVISORY AREAS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WATER… OFF THE BEACH AND OUT OF HARBORS AND MARINAS.

TSUNAMI ADVISORIES MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR WATER IS IMMINENT OF EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD INUNDATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS IN AN ADVISORY. TSUNAMIS ARE A SERIES OF WAVES POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERAL HOURS AFTER INITIAL ARRIVAL TIME. ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL FOR SELECTED SITES IN THE ADVISORY ARE PROVIDED BELOW.

LA JOLLA-CA 1202 PST FEB 27 SAN FRANCISCO-CA 1326 PST FEB 27
SANTA BARBARA-CA 1231 PST FEB 27 CRESCENT CITY-CA 1346 PST FEB 27
FOR ARRIVAL TIMES AT ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS SEE
WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV

$$

PZZ356-255-310-350-210-250-110-130>135-150-153-156-170-PKZ310-
031>036-041-042-011>013-021-022-043-051-052-053-120-121-125>129-
130-140-141-ORZ022-002-021-001-WAZ001-021-503-506>511-514>517-
AKZ023-024-026>029-018>022-025-017-131-135-121-125-145-271522-
/O.EXA.PAAQ.TS.Y.0005.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/
COASTAL AREAS BETWEEN AND INCLUDING THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER TO KODIAK ALASKA
552 AM PST SAT FEB 27 2010

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF OREGON – WASHINGTON – BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER TO KODIAK ALASKA…

PERSONS IN TSUNAMI ADVISORY AREAS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WATER… OFF THE BEACH AND OUT OF HARBORS AND MARINAS.

TSUNAMI ADVISORIES MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR WATER IS IMMINENT OF EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD INUNDATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS IN AN ADVISORY. TSUNAMIS ARE A SERIES OF WAVES POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERAL HOURS AFTER INITIAL ARRIVAL TIME. ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL FOR SELECTED SITES IN THE ADVISORY ARE PROVIDED BELOW.

CHARLESTON-OR 1402 PST FEB 27 YAKUTAT-AK 1619 AKST FEB 27
SEASIDE-OR 1446 PST FEB 27 KODIAK-AK 1628 AKST FEB 27
WESTPORT-WA 1457 PST FEB 27 JUNEAU-AK 1635 AKST FEB 27
NEAH BAY-WA 1507 PST FEB 27 SEWARD-AK 1639 AKST FEB 27
TOFINO-BC 1515 PST FEB 27 VALDEZ-AK 1657 AKST FEB 27
LANGARA-BC 1551 PST FEB 27 CORDOVA-AK 1706 AKST FEB 27
SITKA-AK 1529 AKST FEB 27 HOMER-AK 1739 AKST FEB 27
KETCHIKAN-AK 1549 AKST FEB 27
FOR ARRIVAL TIMES AT ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS SEE
WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV

Z = UTC

Related Links:

• Chile 8.8 Megaquake Strikes Offshore Maule

Powerful Quake Strikes Fiji

Another powerful earthquake strikes Fiji – more intense seismic activity could occur in the region this year

A powerful quake measuring up to 7.3 Mw struck Fiji at 17.212°S, 178.413°E or about 100 km north of the capital, Suva and at a depth of 585 km on Monday, November 09, 2009 at 10:45 UTC.

The mainshock was followed by at least one aftershock measuring 5.3 Mw.

On August 19, 2009 FEWW Moderators posted the following entry:

New Round of Geo-Assualt at Kermadec Trench

Following the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the tip of the Fiordland, South island, New Zealand, followed by a large cluster of aftershocks, another round of geo-assault appears to be gearing up at the southern end of the Kermadec trench.

The Fiordland quakes occurred as a result of a large reverse faulting motion caused by the subduction of the Australian subplate under the Pacific plate, on which Fiordland rests,  in Puysegur Trench, at the Alpine Fault.

The new wave of earthquakes would instead be caused by the ‘mirror image’ action, with Pacific plate subducting beneath the Australian protoplate.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck south of the Fiji Islands on August 18, 2009 at 21:21 UTC may herald a new round of intense [and unprecedented] seismic activity at Kermadec Trench to the north, NE, and East of the North Island, as well as the north, NE, and east of the South Island, New Zealand.

10-degree Map Centered at 15°S,180°E

Earthquake location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FEWW

Earthquake Details:

• Magnitude: 7.2 [Maximum quake magnitude estimated by FEWW at 7.0 Mw]
• Date-Time:
  • Monday, November 09, 2009 at 10:44:54 UTC
  • Monday, November 09, 2009 at 10:44:54 PM at epicenter
• Location: 17.212°S, 178.413°E
• Depth: 585.1 km (363.6 miles)
• Region: FIJI
• Distances:
  • 100 km (65 miles) N of SUVA, Viti Levu, Fiji
  • 135 km (85 miles) SW of Lambasa, Vanua Levu, Fiji
  • 485 km (300 miles) NW of Ndoi Island, Fiji
  • 2205 km (1370 miles) N of Auckland, New Zealand
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 7 km (4.3 miles); depth +/- 9 km (5.6 miles)
• Source:  USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• Event ID: us2009nuam

Seismic Hazard Map

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green- USGS/EHP

Seismic Hazard Map

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green- USGS/EHP

Tsunami Info:

NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported NO destructive tsunami as a result of this event.

Related Links:

• VolcanoWatch Weekly [23 July 2009]

• Volcanoes
• Earthquakes [Main Index Page]

Other Related Links [Including FEWW forecasts]

• Powerful Earthquake Strikes Southern Sumatra, Indonesia

• Powerful Earthquake Strikes Celebes Sea, S of Philippines
• Earth undergoing significant geophysical disturbances

• Earthquakes: Human Enhanced Disasters – UPDATE 3 Oct 2009
• Earthquakes: Human Enhanced Disasters – UPDATE 2 Oct 2009
• Disaster Update: Indonesia Quake

• Two Poweful Quakes Strike Fox Islands, Alaska

• Another Strong Quake Hits Sumatra
• Strong Earthquake Strikes Mindanao, Philippines
• Magnitude 8.3 Quake Strikes Samoa Islands Region

• The Largest Earthquake
• Earthquakes

• Deadly Earthquake Strikes Java, Indonesia
• Magnitude 8.3 Quake Strikes Samoa Islands Region
• Indian Ocean Earthquake Triggers Deadly Tsunami and 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
• Powerful Earthquake Strikes Banda Sea
• Strong Quake Strikes Sunda Strait, Indonesia
• Recent Earthquakes ≥ 6.0 Mw

Powerful quake shakes Sumbawa, Indonesia

M7.0 Earthquake Strikes Sumbawa, Indonesia

Powerful earthquake measuring up to 7.0Mw struck Indonesia’s Sumbawa region, about 77 km east of Tambora volcano and at an estimated  depth of 18 km, November 8, 2009 at 19:41 UTC.

Mount Tambora’s 1815 eruption (Volcanic  Explosivity Index of 7) was the largest in modern history, and perhaps the deadliest of all time, with up to an estimated 100,000 people losing their lives as a result.

Alarmed by its findings concerning the prospect of intense seismic activity in the region, FEWW featured Mt Tambora in its weekly volcano watch VolcanoWatch Weekly  dated 23 July 2009.

See also September 28, 2009 entry:  Up to 3 More Large EQs Could Strike the Pacific Ring of Fire in 2009

FEWW Moderators believe that further, intense seismic activity would most likely occur in the region in the near future.

10-degree Map Centered at 10°S,120°E

Earthquake location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FEWW

Earthquake Details:

• Magnitude: 6.7  [Maximum quake magnitude estimated by FEWW at 7.0 Mw]
• Date-Time:
  • Sunday, November 08, 2009 at 19:41:44 UTC
  • Monday, November 09, 2009 at 03:41:44 AM at epicenter
• Location: 8.316°S, 118.697°E
• Depth: 18.3 km (11.4 miles) (poorly constrained)
• Region: SUMBAWA REGION, INDONESIA
• Distances:
  • 15 km (10 miles) NNW of Raba, Sumbawa, Indonesia
  • 310 km (190 miles) ENE of Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia
  • 330 km (205 miles) W of Ende, Flores, Indonesia
  • 1335 km (830 miles) E of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 9.3 km (5.8 miles); depth +/- 33 km (20.5 miles)
• Source:  USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• Event ID: us2009nta5

Tsunami Info:

NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Center issued the following evaluation:

A destructive widespread tsunami threat does NOT exist based on   historical earthquake and tsunami data.   However – there is a very small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter. Authorities in the region near the epicenter should be made aware of this possibility.

Historic Seismicity

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green- USGS/EHP

Seismic Hazard Map

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green- USGS/EHP

Related Links:

• VolcanoWatch Weekly [23 July 2009]

• Volcanoes
• Earthquakes [Main Index Page]

Other Related Links [Including FEWW forecasts]

• Powerful Earthquake Strikes Southern Sumatra, Indonesia

• Powerful Earthquake Strikes Celebes Sea, S of Philippines
• Earth undergoing significant geophysical disturbances

• Earthquakes: Human Enhanced Disasters – UPDATE 3 Oct 2009
• Earthquakes: Human Enhanced Disasters – UPDATE 2 Oct 2009
• Disaster Update: Indonesia Quake

• Two Poweful Quakes Strike Fox Islands, Alaska
• Recent Earthquakes ≥ 6.0 Mw

• Another Strong Quake Hits Sumatra
• Strong Earthquake Strikes Mindanao, Philippines
• Magnitude 8.3 Quake Strikes Samoa Islands Region

• The Largest Earthquake
• Earthquakes

• Deadly Earthquake Strikes Java, Indonesia
• Magnitude 8.3 Quake Strikes Samoa Islands Region
• Indian Ocean Earthquake Triggers Deadly Tsunami and 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
• Powerful Earthquake Strikes Banda Sea
• Strong Quake Strikes Sunda Strait, Indonesia
• Recent Earthquakes ≥ 6.0 Mw

Strong Earthquake Strikes Offshore N Venezuela

Magnitude 6.4 Quake Strikes Offshore Aragua, Northern Venezuela

An earthquake measuring 6.4 Mw struck offshore Aragua, northern Venezuela about 100 km west of Caracas, the Venezuelan capital at a depth of 10 km on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 20:06 UTC, according to USGS/EHP.

NOAA/NWS/West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center issue the following Tsunami Information Statement on 09/12/2009 at 4:15PM AST:

A strong earthquake has occurred, but a tsunami IS NOT expected along the coasts of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico states, and Eastern Canadian provinces. NO tsunami warning, watch or advisory is in effect for these areas.

Based on the earthquake location, magnitude, and historic tsunami records, a damaging tsunami IS NOT expected along the Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, U.S. Atlantic, Eastern Canadian and Gulf of Mexico coasts.

USGS/EHP had again downgraded their original reading from 7.0 to 6.4Mw.

Venezuelan Interior Minister reported that two people had received major leg injuries, with 12 others suffering less serious injuries as a result of the damage caused by the quake.

Venezuela’s emergency services chief, Luis Diaz Curbelo, reportedly said the quake was felt across the country.

At least seven people were injured and several buildings were damaged in the NW state of Falcon, the worst hit area, he said.

Another report  said the parts of the capital and several other regions were left without electricity.

10-degree Map Centered at 10°N,70°W

Earthquake Location. Source of Original map: USGS

Seismic Hazard Map

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green

Historic Seismicity

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green

Earthquake details

• Magnitude: 6.4
• Date-Time:
• Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 20:06:25 UTC [ Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 08:06:25 PM at epicenter]
• Location: 10.757°N, 67.847°W
• Depth: 10 km (6.2 miles)
• Region:  OFFSHORE ARAGUA, VENEZUELA
• Distances:
  • 35 km (25 miles) NNE of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela
  • 60 km (35 miles) NNE of Valencia, Venezuela
  • 100 km (65 miles) W of CARACAS, Venezuela
  • 2115 km (1310 miles) SE of Miami, Florida
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 5.4 km (3.4 miles);
• Parameters:  NST=197, Nph=197, Dmin=806.2 km, Rmss=1.12 sec, Gp= 36°, M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
• Source: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• Event ID: us2009llbc

Magnitude 7.9 Quake Strikes Tonga Region

A Powerful 7.9 Mw Quake Strikes Tonga Region

A magnitude 5.3 Mw foreshock followed the mainshock about two hours later. Further seismic and volcanic activity in the region can be expected.

This Earthquake

[Data provided by USGS Earthquake Hazard Program]

Magnitude: 7.9

Date and time:

• Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 18:17:40 UTC
• Friday, March 20, 2009 at 06:17:40 AM at epicenter

Location: 23.021°S, 174.700°W
Depth:  34 km (21.1 miles) set by location program
Region:  TONGA REGION
Distances:

• 215 km (135 miles) SSE of NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga
• 490 km (305 miles) S of Neiafu, Tonga
• 490 km (305 miles) ESE of Ndoi Island, Fiji
• 1845 km (1140 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand

Location Uncertainty:  horizontal +/- 6 km (3.7 miles); depth fixed by location program
Source:  USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID: us2009ejbr

10-degree Map Centered at 25°S,175°W

USGS Map of the quake area. Color code for the aftershock changed for contrast.

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (NOAA)

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 002
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1932Z 19 MAR 2009

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS…EXCEPT ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA…
WASHINGTON…OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

… A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT …

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

TONGA / NIUE / KERMADEC IS / AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA /
WALLIS-FUTUNA / FIJI

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS CONFIRM THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. THIS
TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTLINES OF THE REGION
NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION SHOULD
TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS
CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL GAUGES NEAREST THE
REGION AND REPORT IF ANY ADDITIONAL TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY. THE
WARNING WILL NOT EXPAND TO OTHER AREAS OF THE PACIFIC UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED TO WARRANT SUCH AN EXPANSION.

FOR AFFECTED AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO
HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE
NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN
ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL
STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS.
AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE
ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL
AUTHORITIES.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS
WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL
ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE
LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
——————————– ———— ————
TONGA NUKUALOFA: 21.0S 175.2W;  18:45UTC 19 MAR
NIUE NIUE IS.:  19.0S 170.0W;  19:04UTC 19 MAR
KERMADEC IS RAOUL IS.: 29.2S 177.9W; 19:12UTC 19 MAR
AMERICAN SAMOA PAGO PAGO:  14.3S 170.7W; 19:25UTC 19 MAR
SAMOA APIA: 13.8S 171.8W; 19:34UTC 19 MAR
WALLIS-FUTUNA WALLIS IS.: 13.2S 176.2W; 19:47UTC 19 MAR
FIJI SUVA:  18.1S 178.4E; 20:03UTC 19 MAR

Tsunami Warning Update:
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 3
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
1009 AM HST THU MAR 19 2009
[Message truncated]

EVALUATION

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS CANCELLED THE REGIONAL
TSUNAMI WARNING IT ISSUED FOR ANOTHER PART OF THE PACIFIC. BASED
ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THREAT TO
HAWAII AND THE ADVISORY FOR HAWAII IS ALSO CANCELLED.

HOWEVER… SOME COASTAL AREAS IN HAWAII COULD EXPERIENCE SMALL
NON-DESTRUCTIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG OR UNUSUAL CURRENTS
LASTING UP TO SEVERAL HOURS. THE ESTIMATED TIME SUCH EFFECTS
MIGHT BEGIN IS

0236 PM HST THU 19 MAR 2009

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL MESSAGE ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake Strikes East of the Kuril Is.

Magnitude 7.4 Quake Strikes EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS

Earthquake Details
Magnitude: 7.4
Date-Time:

• Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 17:49:39 UTC
• Friday, January 16, 2009 at 03:49:39 AM at epicenter

20-degree Quake Map Centered at 45°N,155°E  – Source: USGS

Location: 46.861°N, 155.154°E
Depth: 36 km (22.4 miles) set by location program
Region: EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
Distances:

• 430 km (270 miles) S of Severo-Kuril’sk, Kuril Islands, Russia
• 590 km (365 miles) ENE of Kuril’sk, Kuril Islands
• 1785 km (1110 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
• 7245 km (4500 miles) NE of MOSCOW, Russia

Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 3.6 km (2.2 miles); depth fixed by location program
Source:  USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID: us2009bwa8

Source: NOAA/NWS

Tectonic Summary:

The Kuril Islands earthquake of January 15th, 2009 occurred as a result of thrust faulting within the Pacific plate. The event occurred near the outer-rise of the Pacific plate about 30 km to the east of where the Pacific plate subducts beneath the Okhotsk plate. In this region, the Pacific plate moves northwest with respect to the Okhotsk plate with a velocity of about 90 mm/yr.

Large and great earthquakes are not uncommon in this region. The location of this event is approximately 90 km to the northeast of the Mw 8.1 outer rise earthquake of January 13th 2007, which occurred as a result of normal faulting near the Pacific plate outer-rise. On November 15th 2006, an Mw 8.3 subduction-related thrust earthquake occurred approximately 160km to the southwest. [Source: USGS]

Tsunami Warning:
NO destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is expected.

Related Links:

• Earthquakes [Index page]

Magnitude 6.8 Quake Hits Japan

Magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes Eastern Honshu, Japan about 25 km ENE of Morioka

The quake caused substantial damage to buildings, collapsed power lines and left as many as 10,000 homes and businesses without electricity.

Cars were buried in a landslide, according to local news reports, and the tremor triggered dozens of fires. Fujitsu Ltd. in Iwate reported that its “semiconductor production machines were partially damaged.”

About 130 people needed hospital treatment, thousands more trapped in stranded trains, motorways closed and train services canceled. the tremor was felt widely in southern Hokkaido and in the main island of Honshu as far south as Tokyo.

According to witness reports, the quake caused strong shaking lasting up to 40 seconds in areas near the epicenter in northern Japan.

Japan sits atop the Eurasian, Pacific, Philippine and North American tectonic plates whose movements cause numerous earthquakes. The country experiences about 20 percent of the world’s major earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

People clean up the pieces of glasses shattered by a strong earthquake at an auto dealership in Karumai, Iwate prefecture Thursday, July 24, 2008. A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck off the northern Japanese coast early Thursday, injuring at least 91 people, causing blackouts and landslides, officials said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Did you know?

With a total of 203 earthquakes measuring 6.0 Mw or greater, 1995 experienced the largest number of quakes for the period 1980 to 2007 [2007 was runner up with 195 large quakes.] With a total of 110 quakes so far [as of July 23,] 2008 could prove a record-breaking year for large tremors. [The stats are based on USGS data.]

Historic Seismicity

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green [USGS]

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green [USGS]

Quake Details:

– Magnitude: 6.8

– Date-Time: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 15:26:20 UTC [Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 12:26:20 AM at epicenter]

– Location: 39.807°N, 141.467°E

– Depth: 111 km (69.0 miles) set by location program

– Region: EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN

– Distances:

• 30 km (20 miles) ENE of Morioka, Honshu, Japan;
• 75 km (50 miles) S of Hachinohe;
• 120 km (75 miles) E of Akita;
• 485 km (300 miles) NNE of TOKYO

– Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 3.8 km (2.4 miles); depth fixed by location program

The Mainshock was followed by a magnitude 5.1 aftershock almost exactly 11 hours later at 11:27:42 AM (time at epicenter).

Location of aftershock: 39.576°N, 141.385°E
Depth: 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Distance: 25 km (15 miles) SE of Morioka, Honshu, Japan [455 km NNE of TOKYO]

Related Links:

• Powerful Offshore Quake Strikes Japan’s Eastern Coast [July 19, 2008 quake]
• Powerful Earthquake Strikes Honshu, Japan [June 14, 2008]

Powerful Offshore Quake Strikes Japan’s Eastern Coast

Magnitude 7.0 Quake – OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:

Earthquake Location: Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green. Map: USGS

An earthquake occurred about 125 km (75 miles) ENE of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan or about 130 km (80 miles) ESE of Sendai, Honshu, Japan or about 305 km (190 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan at 8:39 PM MDT, Jul 18, 2008 (Jul 19 at 11:39 AM local time in Japan). The magnitude and location may be revised when additional data and further analysis results are available. No reports of damage or casualties have been received at this time; however, this earthquake may have caused damage due to its location and size.

The mainshock was followed by a 5.3 aftershock. A tsunami warning was issued for sections of Japan’s eastern coast. However, only a small wave of about 20 cm was reported.

Japan sits atop the Eurasian, Pacific, Philippine and North American tectonic plates whose movements cause numerous earthquakes. The country experiences about 20 percent of the world’s major earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.