Earthquake: Magnitude 7.9 - Tonga - Tsunami warning issued

[bigworld]

Source: USGS

Magnitude 7.9
Date-Time

* Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 18:17:37 UTC
* Friday, March 20, 2009 at 06:17:37 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 23.015°S, 174.782°W
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region TONGA REGION
Distances 210 km (130 miles) SSE of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga
480 km (300 miles) ESE of Ndoi Island, Fiji
490 km (305 miles) S of Neiafu, Tonga
1830 km (1140 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 9.4 km (5.8 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters NST= 82, Nph= 82, Dmin=759.2 km, Rmss=1.18 sec, Gp= 58°,
M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source

* USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID us2009ejbr

Read more: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009ejbr.php

---

Tsunami advisory issued: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/?region=2&id=hawaii.2009.03.19.183111

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. Shit, that's big. :(

I hope the damage is limited and there are no fatalities.

[bigworld]

2. Volcanos erupting nearby

There's been a lot of volcanic activity there over the past few days...

http://www.matangitonga.to/article/tonganews/natural_events/tonga_hunga_eruption_180309.shtml

[Renew Deal]

15. I think it erupted yesterday.

Not a good situation right now.

[msongs]

3. it's the rapture nt

[Auggie]

4. Earth, reminding us who's boss

[ourbluenation]

13. Yep... She's funny that way. n/t

[Renew Deal]

16. Bullshit. It's a nuke test by Bush!

:evilgrin:

[Coventina]

5. That's the same magnitude of the devastating China earthquake

Sending my best wishes for the safety of everyone in the area....

[JCMach1]

7. Some MAJOR volcanic stuff going on

[MrPerson]

6. TONGA!!!! TONGA!!! TONGA!!! *acts like chimp*

[BrightKnight]

8. tsunami warning for Tonga, Fiji, Niue, Kermadecs, American Samoa, Samoa, Wallis-Fatuna

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2009/pacific.2009.03.19.193112.txt

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

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 - 1818Z 19 MAR 2009
COORDINATES - 23.0 SOUTH 174.8 WEST
DEPTH - 10 KM
LOCATION - TONGA ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.7

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 1845Z 19 MAR
NIUE NIUE IS. 19.0S 170.0W 1904Z 19 MAR
KERMADEC IS RAOUL IS. 29.2S 177.9W 1912Z 19 MAR
AMERICAN SAMOA PAGO PAGO 14.3S 170.7W 1925Z 19 MAR
SAMOA APIA 13.8S 171.8W 1934Z 19 MAR
WALLIS-FUTUNA WALLIS IS. 13.2S 176.2W 1947Z 19 MAR
FIJI SUVA 18.1S 178.4E 2003Z 19 MAR

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.

[Ian David]

10. Is there a separate bulletin for the U.S. West Coast?

[Renew Deal]

17. It would be many hours before anything got here.

And that alert doesn't even mention Australia.

[Grinchie]

9. Hard to get to Hawai'i via the Internets

And the Pacific Tsunami warning center is barely responding, so it looks like the undersea cables in New Zealand are messed up again.

I did get a message that said that any effects of a possible Tsunami would be starting around 2:30 PM HST.

Could explain the sluggish and congested internet traffic in Hawaii today. Everyone is panicking and trying to get more info, especially since they went ahead and switched over to Digital TV Broadcasts.

[Gin]

11. where was the underwater volcano that erupted yesterday?

[Alcibiades]

12. I hope they are OK

The only thing I know about Tonga: cool stamps.

[ourbluenation]

14. The warning has been cancelled....link

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2009/pacific.2009.03.19.200738.txt