Posted on 04/01/2007 2:40:17 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
| Magnitude | 7.6 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Date-Time |
|
|
| Location | 8.474°S, 156.950°E |
|
| Depth | 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program | |
| Region |
|
SOLOMON ISLANDS |
| Distances | 45 km (25 miles) SSE of Gizo, New Georgia Islands, Solomon Isl. 205 km (125 miles) S of Chirovanga, Choiseul, Solomon Islands 345 km (215 miles) WNW of HONIARA, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands |
|
| Location Uncertainty | horizontal +/- 9.1 km (5.7 miles); depth fixed by location program |
|
| Parameters | Nst=148, Nph=148, Dmin=345.9 km, Rmss=1.2 sec, Gp= 32°, M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=6 |
|
|
|
Source | USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) |
| Event ID | us2007aqbk |
|
AP- SYDNEY, Australia - A powerful magnitude-7.6 earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands on Monday, sending a tsunami wave crashing into the country's west coast and prompting region-wide disaster warnings, officials said.
Sgt. Godfrey Abiah said police in the capital, Honiara, reported a wave several yards high had crashed ashore in the western town of Gizo shortly before communication lines with the region were cut.
That's right. The tides are maximize and land and seabed and everything is subject to tide, so we figure that's when movement is also maximized so if something is going to let go it might be then.
Thanks for the ping.
Prayers for everyone in that region.
Oh no! Prayers still going up!
So?
People thought something ten times heaver than something else would fall ten times faster - when someone bothered to test it, it was shown to be untrue.
USGS has revised it to M 8.0.
Anybody know when this should hit No. Queensland?
Forecast arrival time in Cairns Australia is 2349Z, which is 7:49PM Eastern time US. So in 10-15 minutes or so.
And Brisbane arrival would be 8:33PM Eastern time.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070401/ap_on_re_au_an/south_pacific_earthquake
~ snip ~
Julian McLeod of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office said there were unconfirmed reports that two villages in the country's far west were flooded.
"Two villages were reported to have been completely inundated," McLeod told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "We have received reports of four people missing."
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 7:39 a.m. about 6 miles beneath the sea floor, 217 miles northwest of Honiara.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for the Solomon Islands and neighboring Papua New Guinea. It ordered a lower-level "tsunami watch" for other places, including most South Pacific countries. The center said Hawaii's status could be elevated to warning or watch.
A tsunami was also possible at Willis Island and Cooktown in far northeastern Australia, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's National Meteorological and Oceanographic Centre said.
Abiah said police in Gizo had been warning residents to move to higher ground away from the coast when the tsunami hit. Communications were lost soon afterward.
"We have lost radio contact with the two police stations down there and we're not getting any clear picture from down there," he told The Associated Press by telephone.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Deli Oso, said the quake was felt in Honiara but there were no reports of any damage.
It looks as if USGS has upgraded this to an 8.0 or an 8.1 magnitude quake.
Magnitude 8.0 - SOLOMON ISLANDS
2007 April 1 20:39:56 UTC
Earthquake Details
Magnitude 8.0
Date-Time Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 20:39:56 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time
Monday, April 2, 2007 at 7:39:56 AM = local time at epicenter
Magnitude 8.0 - SOLOMON ISLANDS
Thanks for keeping us updated.
My former Church (before I moved) sponsored a medical student from the Solomons, where cataracts are serious and widespread (the sun!). He returned there and was doing much good work "making the blind to see". It was wonderful to read his letters and see the pictures. I would love to go there! I pray for all the people there, but can't help but wonder and worry a bit about the good doctor and his family, too.
Well it has been revised to an 8.0...gigantic....and the aftershock a few minutes later is at 6.7...see post #91.
Thanks....an 8.0 is really getting up there....
A ferry operator in the western province of Gizo, about 60 kilometres north-west of the earthquake's epicentre, says all the houses on the islands are under water.
Nixson Silas said he could see kitchen utensils and other belongings floating in the sea.
A journalist at the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation in Honiara told ABC Newsradio that early reports from the island of Simbo spoke of damage to houses and waves travelling 200 metres inland.
The Solomons is a big place and there are a lot of islands, odds are your friend wasn't there - do you know what island he lives on?
At the other end of the Solomons chain is Bougainville, where, one night in 1943, an earthquake shook my father right out of his foxhole in one huge jolt. They all thought it was something "the Japs" had cooked up.
8.0 and above is what they classify as a "Great earthquake"
BTTT
God help all those in harms way! I hope they get the warnings in time...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aKt2fYzekNtM&refer=japan
Residents of the coastal settlement of Gizo in the Solomon Islands retreated to high ground as waves damaged buildings, including a local hotel, Robert Iroge, editor of the Solomons Star newspaper said by telephone from the capital, Honiara, today. There are unconfirmed reports that five people are missing, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the Solomon Islands Office of Emergency Management.
Australia's Bureau of Metereology advised people to avoid beaches in the eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales. ``It is quite a dangerous situation,'' spokesman Rob Webb told Sky Television News. ``We are concerned about the entire east coast of Australia for the next two to three hours.''
The quake occurred at 7:39 a.m. Solomon Islands time, 45 kilometers (25 miles) south southeast of Gizo in the New Georgia archipelago and 345 kilometers west northwest of Honiara, at a depth of 10 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said in an e- mailed alert.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami alert was in effect for the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Fiji and northeastern Australia. The center said it received reports of a 15-centimeter high wave at Honiara. According to Webb, that could prove destructive, depending on the depth of the water
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.