USGS: 8.1 earthquake near Tonga

[bigworld]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usmgas.php

possible tsunami advisory for New Zealand and Fiji:
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/wmsg

[Zynx]

1. That's a big one.

I hope no one gets hurt.

[Exultant Democracy]

7. They are some of the nicest people in the world.

They have made it through generations of earthquakes and tsunamis so lets hope for the best.

[oregonjen]

2. Tsunami watch for the West Coast of the US too

www.kgw.com

[dave29]

3. TSUNAMI WARNING: NEW ZEALAND, FIJI

GET AWAY FROM THE COAST, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE THERE.

Per CNN & http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/wmsg

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 NEAR THE EPICENTER WITHIN MINUTES AND MORE
DISTANT COASTLINES WITHIN HOURS. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE
APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER
WILL MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA FROM GAUGES NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE TO
DETERMINE IF A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED AND ESTIMATE THE SEVERITY OF
THE THREAT.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES. ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES
MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. THE TIME
BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE TSUNAMI WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

LOCATION COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
-------------------------------- ------------ ------------
FIJI SUVA 18.1S 178.4E 1713Z 03 MAY
NEW ZEALAND GISBORNE 38.1S 176.4E 1821Z 03 MAY
EAST CAPE 36.2S 175.1E 1854Z 03 MAY
LYTTELTON 43.6S 172.7E 2005Z 03 MAY
NEW PLYMOUTH 39.1S 174.1E 2027Z 03 MAY
DUNEDIN 45.9S 170.5E 2040Z 03 MAY
MILFORD SOUND 44.6S 167.9E 2108Z 03 MAY
WESTPORT 41.8S 171.6E 2108Z 03 MAY
BLUFF 46.6S 168.3E 2154Z 03 MAY

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

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

[Haole Girl]

4. Wow!

Thanks for the post. This IS a big one!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. They had a 6.3 and a 5.5 on the 30th

a few others 4.5 - 5.1 in the past few weeks. This is the strongest one yet. :(

[indie_voter]

6. Thank you for the info! My thoughts are with everybody affected. n/t

[Hell Hath No Fury]

8. SHIT that's big!

As a San Francisco, the thought of having an 8.1 offshore scares the crap out of me! :scared:

I hope we don't see a repeat of the Christmas tsunami. :(

[Canuckistanian]

9. Tsunami Bulletin (as mentioned)

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1542Z 03 MAY 2006

THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE PACIFIC BASIN EXCEPT
ALASKA - BRITISH COLUMBIA - WASHINGTON - OREGON - CALIFORNIA.

... A TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH ARE IN EFFECT ...

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

FIJI / NEW ZEALAND

FOR ALL OTHER PACIFIC AREAS, THIS MESSAGE IS AN ADVISORY ONLY.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 1527Z 03 MAY 2006
COORDINATES - 19.9 SOUTH 174.2 WEST
LOCATION - TONGA ISLANDS
MAGNITUDE - 8.1

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 NEAR THE EPICENTER WITHIN MINUTES AND MORE
DISTANT COASTLINES WITHIN HOURS. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE
APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER
WILL MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA FROM GAUGES NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE TO
DETERMINE IF A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED AND ESTIMATE THE SEVERITY OF
THE THREAT.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES. ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES
MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. THE TIME
BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE TSUNAMI WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

LOCATION COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
-------------------------------- ------------ ------------
FIJI SUVA 18.1S 178.4E 1713Z 03 MAY
NEW ZEALAND GISBORNE 38.1S 176.4E 1821Z 03 MAY
EAST CAPE 36.2S 175.1E 1854Z 03 MAY
LYTTELTON 43.6S 172.7E 2005Z 03 MAY
NEW PLYMOUTH 39.1S 174.1E 2027Z 03 MAY
DUNEDIN 45.9S 170.5E 2040Z 03 MAY
MILFORD SOUND 44.6S 167.9E 2108Z 03 MAY
WESTPORT 41.8S 171.6E 2108Z 03 MAY
BLUFF 46.6S 168.3E 2154Z 03 MAY

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

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

[havocmom]

10. Been watching the Pacific rim past few days. Lots of movement

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

[Xithras]

14. Wow, Big quakes everywhere except North America.

Central America, South America, Asia, the South Pacific...we're pretty much the ONLY landmass on the Pacific rim that hasn't been hit. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. :scared:

[Up2Late]

21. You know what really worries me about that map is...

...how little movement there is in the U.S. and especially the California Coast. That usually indicates a LOT of pressure being built up. I would much rather the California coast look like the fault line off of S.E. Asia or Alaska.

With all that movement on the east side of the Pacific Plate, the West side is going to have a MAJOR quake, very soon.

[schrodingers_cat]

22. Yikes! A major fault runs down the street I live on, in CA....

good thing it turns off my street a block away from my house...now there's a comforting thought.
If my neighbors' houses are destroyed in a quake, they will not be allowed to rebuild on their lots, but thankfully, I can. The only saving grace is that I'm on bedrock, not fill.

[henslee]

23. Hey I read that short story called Shrodingers cat... but I never really

understood the Shorodingers cat theory thingie.

[DrDebug]

24. How big is that earthquake near the Artic?

The one next to Eastern Siberia?

[havocmom]

28. 4.9 today

If you go to that site ( http://www.iris.edu/seismon/ ) and hover your cursor over a ring just right, it will show you the date, time and magnitude for the cirle quake marker you are on. It is tough with some, as there are so many overlapping markers.

edited to add: that 4.9 today may be south of the one you are referring to. The markers are color coded for today, yesterday, and so on. Not sure which marker you mean. Lots of aftershocks off Kamchatka's big quake the other day.

[unda cova brutha]

26. Is the U.S. Military in the area?

testing some of their super secret toys which may have caused the last tsunami?

[havocmom]

29. Dunno. Am sorta out of the loop where I am these days

Left my spooky friends with military ties behind some years back*


*at least, I hope I did ;)

[Oversea Visitor]

11. Shit

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. BBC now talking to a Tongan MP

He and his family are OK; it's still dark there, and he said that when dawn came he'd go out and look, but it sounds as though Tonga itself may not have had too much of a problem.

[Haole Girl]

13. I hop you're right. n/t

[enlightenment]

15. Thanks, muriel -

it's very frustrating to listen to "30 minutes, Fiji, 90 minutes, NZ" and NO mention of how the residents of Tonga fared.

I wish everyone well -- but the breathless presentation of the next potential great disaster is annoying, when they forget about the people who have already been impacted.

[Tinksrival]

16. Map

[Radio_Lady]

19. Tinksrival, thanks for the maps. They are a big help in understanding

this part of the vast Pacific Ocean.

In peace,

Radio_Lady in Oregon

[Roland99]

17. USGS has it now at 8.0 and NOAA at 7.8...still a big one

[Up2Late]

18. Here's the USGS Shake map, unfortunately it's hard to read when...

...it happens under water:



<http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/shakemap/global/shake/mgas_06/#intensity>

[AngryAmish]

20. How is Superfly Snuka doing?

[Up2Late]

25. Update: All Tsunami warnings have been canceled

This is per a screen graphic on CNN/International, I don't have a link.

[Beaverhausen]

27. that's good news