Magnitude 6.6 - FIJI REGION

USGS Earthquake Hazards ^ | 17 November 2004

[bd476]

Magnitude 6.6 - FIJI REGION
2004 November 17 21:09:13 UTC

Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

A strong earthquake occurred at 21:09:13 (UTC) on Wednesday, November 17, 2004. The magnitude 6.6 event has been located in the FIJI REGION. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Magnitude	6.6
Date-Time	Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at 21:09:13 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 9:09:13 AM = local time at epicenter
Location	19.965°S, 178.803°W
Depth	619.9 km (385.2 miles) set by location program
Region	FIJI REGION
Distances	75 km (50 miles) N of Ndoi Island, Fiji 355 km (220 miles) SE of SUVA, Viti Levu, Fiji 395 km (245 miles) WNW of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga 1980 km (1230 miles) NNE of Auckland, New Zealand

[bd476]

Thought this might be of some interest since troops from Fiji are now headed to Iraq.

[bd476]

Earthquake in Fiji Ping.

[bd476]

Earthquake in Fiji Ping.

[sully777]

How deep in the ocean? Wonder if the surf will be up worldwide?

[bd476]

From your vantage point, is it safe to assume that you didn't feel anything?

[Experiment 6-2-6]

yowzer! Glad I'm 600 miles away. Didn't feel a thing.

[oceanperch]

And did you see just five minutes before that they had a 5.1 earthquake.

I don't recall that happening to often.

Was there any Tsunami warning?

Please keep me on your ping list, I didn't get one this time.

[bd476]

Sully777 and Oceanperch, there's no word yet of any tsunamis generated from this large earthquake. There would be something by now if there was a possibility.

Oceanperch, sure - will ping you to every quake I post if you want. On this one, I wasn't sure so I just pinged a few people who had been talking about Fiji troops who are headed to Iraq.

Oceanperch, you are right, there was a quake 5 minutes prior to this one. It happens in California, and they usually call it a foreshock. These quakes in the South Pacific are very deep quakes (several hundred miles deep) which is another big difference.

Both quakes, despite being five minutes apart are still listed on USGS and on NEIC, and both have been reviewed by seismologists. They are accurate as to size, time and location.

***************************

1946 Tsunami Puumaile

"These photos were taken near Puumaile, the hospital located at the end of the paved road in Keaukaha, of the inundation of coconut trees.

These photos demonstrate how tsunami waves can act like a wall of water advancing over land, rather than breaking surf. During the April 1, 1946 tsunami, Puumaile itself was spared; however, 90% of the homes along the Keaukaha coast were destroyed.

Unfortunately in January, 1947 raging waters flooded and wrecked areas of the hospital with trees, boulders, and other debris that had washed through the windows."

***************************

Valdivia Chile Earthquake and Tsunami 1960, Photo of Gulf of Coral

***************************

1960 Hilo Hawaii Tsunami

"The bayfront area of Hilo along the Wailoa River was once a thriving community, called Shinmachi. Damage from the 1960 tsunami was high in the Shinmachi district."

[oceanperch]

That is one big sneaker wave.

[bd476]

Good news. On the map, it looks like you are about an inch away. (grin)

I felt the 1989 Loma Prieta California quake near San Francisco while working on the sixth floor of an office building in Los Angeles - a little over 300 miles away.

"A California Highway Patrol officer checked the damage after a section of the upper deck of the Bay Bridge fell. Anamafi Moala died after her car plunged into the gap. Chronicle photo by Steve Ringman"

1989 Loma Prieta Quake

USGS Info on 1989 Loma Prieta Quake

[bd476]

Check this out, OP. This is technically a tidal wave, yet it is not a tsunami. This "tidal bore" occurs in a river in China every year.

Here you'll see people lining up to watch the event which turns out to be an unwise decision.

Tidal Bore Flooding

[bd476]

Be sure to click on the photo, and turn on the volume on your computer. It's a startling video.

[Strategerist]

Magnitude 6.6 quakes aren't nearly big enough to generate Pacific-wide Tsunami.

[bd476]

Historically you are correct.

Tsunamis can also be generated by local quakes such as the Papua New Guinea Tsunami in 1998 which struck after a 7.0 earthquake. The New Guinea Tsunami claimed approximately 3000 lives.

Tsunamis are characterized as shallow water waves. Most distance travelling tsunamis break out in the ocean rather than at a shoreline. Damage from most tsunamis is from water swelling up, inundating and washing over the coast line.

• "On July 17, 1998 a Mw = 7.0 earthquake struck the north central coast of Papua New Guinea. Following the earthquake a large tsunami also struck the region. Initial reports claimed that the wave was between 7 and 10 meters and that up to 3000 persons were killed or missing. This seemed to be an unusually damaging tsunami given the size of the earthquake..."

• "Tsunamis are a series of very long waves generated by any rapid, large-scale disturbance of the sea. Most are generated by sea floor displacements from large undersea earthquakes."

• "Tsunamis can cause great destruction and loss of life within minutes on shores near their source, and some tsunamis can cause destruction within hours across an entire ocean basin. Most tsunamis occur in the Pacific region but they are known to happen in every ocean and sea..."
  NOAA Tsunami

• "A tsunami can be generated by ANY disturbance that displaces a large water mass from its equilibrium position. Submarine landslides, which often occur during a large earthquake, can also create a tsunami."
  Tsunami Generation, Propagation, and Inundation

• "What causes a tsunami? "

• "Oceanographers often refer to tsunamis as seismic sea waves as they are usually the result of a sudden rise or fall of a section of the earth's crust under or near the ocean.

• A seismic disturbance can displace the water column, creating a rise or fall in the level of the ocean above. This rise or fall in sea level is the initial formation of a tsunami wave..."

• "...Tsunami waves can also be created by volcanic activity and landslides occurring above or below the sea surface. These types of activity produce tsunamis with much less energy than those produced by submarine faulting.

  The size and energy of these tsunamis dissipates rapidly with increasing distance from the source, thus resulting in more local devastation..."
  Tsunami.org

[bd476]

Magnitude 5.6 - SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
2005 June 20 02:44:54 UTC
Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver


A moderate earthquake occurred at 02:44:54 (UTC) on Monday, June 20, 2005. The magnitude 5.6 event has been located SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Magnitude 5.6
Date-Time Monday, June 20, 2005 at 02:44:54 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time
Monday, June 20, 2005 at 2:44:54 PM = local time at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 26.756°S, 176.186°W
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS

Distances

320 km (200 miles) NNE of Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands
580 km (360 miles) NNE of L'Esperance Rock, Kermadec Islands
1410 km (880 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand
1815 km (1130 miles) NNE of WELLINGTON, New Zealand

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 14.5 km (9.0 miles);
depth fixed by location program Parameters Nst= 80, Nph= 80, Dmin=325 km, Rmss=1.1 sec, Gp= 76°, Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID usznah

[bd476]

[ Note: rather than beginning a brand new thread, I'm adding today's new earthquake near Fiji Islands onto an older Fiji Earthquake thread ]

Magnitude 5.6 - SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS 2005 June 20 02:44:54 UTC

[dc-zoo]

Did USGS downgrade it already? Your title says "6.6".

[bd476]

dc-zoo wrote: "Did USGS downgrade it already? Your title says '6.6'."

Alas my experiment has failed. Apparently the following, which was included in my post regarding today's Fiji Earthquake, went unread:

"[ Note: rather than beginning a brand new thread, I'm adding today's new earthquake near Fiji Islands onto an older Fiji Earthquake thread ]"

Post 16

[dc-zoo]

Ok.. sorry I wasn't paying closer attention. Beyond that Art Bell just called it a 4.9 and I'm not sure where he got that from.

[bd476]

dc-zoo wrote: "Ok.. sorry I wasn't paying closer attention. Beyond that Art Bell just called it a 4.9 and I'm not sure where he got that from."

Please let me know when you hear Art Bell mention which 4.9 earthquake he is referring to.

USGS still has today's Fiji quake listed as 5.6.