7.9 Earthquake hits Samoa Islands [Update: tsunami confirmed, 8.3 quake]

Fox News TV ^

[navysealdad]

M7.9 - Samoa Islands region - 2009 September 29 17:48:19

[MrsEmmaPeel]

7.9 -; not good. Hope that Australia and New Zealand are not hit with a tsunami.

[tcrlaf]

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1804Z 29 SEP 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 AND WATCH ARE IN EFFECT ...

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA / NIUE / WALLIS-FUTUNA / TOKELAU /
COOK ISLANDS / TONGA / TUVALU / KIRIBATI / KERMADEC IS / FIJI /
HOWLAND-BAKER / JARVIS IS. / NEW ZEALAND / FR. POLYNESIA /
PALMYRA IS.

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR

VANUATU / NAURU / MARSHALL IS. / SOLOMON IS. / JOHNSTON IS. /
NEW CALEDONIA / KOSRAE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / HAWAII / POHNPEI /
WAKE IS. / PITCAIRN / MIDWAY IS.

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 - 1748Z 29 SEP 2009
COORDINATES - 15.3 SOUTH 171.0 WEST
DEPTH - SHALLOWER THAN 100 KM
LOCATION - SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.9

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 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
———————————————— —————— ——————
AMERICAN SAMOA PAGO PAGO 14.3S 170.7W 1759Z 29 SEP
SAMOA APIA 13.8S 171.8W 1810Z 29 SEP
NIUE NIUE IS. 19.0S 170.0W 1822Z 29 SEP
WALLIS-FUTUNA WALLIS IS. 13.2S 176.2W 1835Z 29 SEP
TOKELAU NUKUNONU IS. 9.2S 171.8W 1844Z 29 SEP
COOK ISLANDS PUKAPUKA IS. 10.8S 165.9W 1846Z 29 SEP
RAROTONGA 21.2S 159.8W 1929Z 29 SEP
PENRYN IS. 8.9S 157.8W 1954Z 29 SEP
TONGA NUKUALOFA 21.0S 175.2W 1851Z 29 SEP
TUVALU FUNAFUTI IS. 7.9S 178.5E 1932Z 29 SEP
KIRIBATI KANTON IS. 2.8S 171.7W 1935Z 29 SEP
FLINT IS. 11.4S 151.8W 2025Z 29 SEP
MALDEN IS. 3.9S 154.9W 2037Z 29 SEP
CHRISTMAS IS. 2.0N 157.5W 2100Z 29 SEP
TARAWA IS. 1.5N 173.0E 2104Z 29 SEP
KERMADEC IS RAOUL IS. 29.2S 177.9W 1938Z 29 SEP
FIJI SUVA 18.1S 178.4E 2003Z 29 SEP
HOWLAND-BAKER HOWLAND IS. 0.6N 176.6W 2008Z 29 SEP
JARVIS IS. JARVIS IS. 0.4S 160.1W 2028Z 29 SEP
NEW ZEALAND EAST CAPE 37.7S 178.5E 2044Z 29 SEP
GISBORNE 38.7S 178.0E 2100Z 29 SEP
NORTH CAPE 34.4S 173.3E 2112Z 29 SEP
NAPIER 39.5S 176.9E 2140Z 29 SEP
WELLINGTON 41.3S 174.8E 2150Z 29 SEP
AUCKLAND(E) 36.7S 175.0E 2212Z 29 SEP
AUCKLAND(W) 37.1S 174.2E 2239Z 29 SEP
LYTTELTON 43.6S 172.7E 2255Z 29 SEP
NEW PLYMOUTH 39.1S 174.1E 2317Z 29 SEP
NELSON 41.3S 173.3E 2323Z 29 SEP
DUNEDIN 45.9S 170.5E 2331Z 29 SEP
MILFORD SOUND 44.6S 167.9E 2358Z 29 SEP
WESTPORT 41.8S 171.6E 2359Z 29 SEP
FR. POLYNESIA PAPEETE 17.5S 149.6W 2045Z 29 SEP
HIVA OA 10.0S 139.0W 2214Z 29 SEP
RIKITEA 23.1S 135.0W 2247Z 29 SEP
PALMYRA IS. PALMYRA IS. 6.3N 162.4W 2102Z 29 SEP
VANUATU ANATOM IS. 20.2S 169.9E 2117Z 29 SEP
ESPERITU SANTO 15.1S 167.3E 2123Z 29 SEP
NAURU NAURU 0.5S 166.9E 2138Z 29 SEP
MARSHALL IS. MAJURO 7.1N 171.4E 2147Z 29 SEP
KWAJALEIN 8.7N 167.7E 2220Z 29 SEP
ENIWETOK 11.4N 162.3E 2309Z 29 SEP
SOLOMON IS. KIRAKIRA 10.4S 161.9E 2155Z 29 SEP
GHATERE 7.8S 159.2E 2227Z 29 SEP
AUKI 8.8S 160.6E 2244Z 29 SEP
HONIARA 9.3S 160.0E 2244Z 29 SEP
PANGGOE 6.9S 157.2E 2245Z 29 SEP
MUNDA 8.4S 157.2E 2248Z 29 SEP
FALAMAE 7.4S 155.6E 2304Z 29 SEP
JOHNSTON IS. JOHNSTON IS. 16.7N 169.5W 2212Z 29 SEP
NEW CALEDONIA NOUMEA 22.3S 166.5E 2216Z 29 SEP
KOSRAE KOSRAE IS. 5.5N 163.0E 2233Z 29 SEP
PAPUA NEW GUINE KIETA 6.1S 155.6E 2303Z 29 SEP
AMUN 6.0S 154.7E 2323Z 29 SEP
RABAUL 4.2S 152.3E 2349Z 29 SEP
HAWAII NAWILIWILI 22.0N 159.4W 2311Z 29 SEP
HILO 19.7N 155.1W 2314Z 29 SEP
HONOLULU 21.3N 157.9W 2315Z 29 SEP
POHNPEI POHNPEI IS. 7.0N 158.2E 2318Z 29 SEP
WAKE IS. WAKE IS. 19.3N 166.6E 2322Z 29 SEP
PITCAIRN PITCAIRN IS. 25.1S 130.1W 2329Z 29 SEP
MIDWAY IS. MIDWAY IS. 28.2N 177.4W 2349Z 29 SEP

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 PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.

[Elderberry]

Any Tsunami warnings?

[Elderberry]

I don’t see Guam listed.

That’s where my Son is stationed.

[tcrlaf]

Guam isn’t listed....
Probably blocked by the Solomon’s ridge...

[justlurking]

Ouch. 7.9 is just short of a "great earthquake" on the Richter scale.

The 1906 quake in San Francisco was 8.0. The energy was the equivalent of a 1 gigaton nuclear device.

[novemberslady]

bttt

[Elderberry]

And my Son Patrick loves to surf too. He spent over half a year in Hawaii before he was transferred to Guam. Every Sunday they would bus him to the beach, rent him a board, feed him lunch, and bus him back all for about $7.00

[equalitybeforethelaw]

Is he Navy, Marine, Army or Air Force? I spent 3 years in HI as a Marine. Gave up surfing in HI for two reasons: (1) I am white and the locals are not friendly, and (2) there is massive volcanic corral just below the waves.

[Elderberry]

He’s Navy. He’s a nuclear machinist mate on the fast attack sub, the Buffalo. He’s just past his 4 year point. 2 more to go. He’s wanting to get out, get a degree, and come back in, so he says, into Spec Ops. Or as a Marine dealing wth Helicopters. He’s young, his wants are constantly changing.

[amom]

Repost of my comment on prior thread.

No warning yet. http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/. It would take about 9 hr to reach our areas if there are to be any tsunami events.

Please pass along my prayers to our friend who has family in that area.

[SlowBoat407]

Skedded to reach Honolulu at 1:11 PM local time., or about 3.5 hours after this message posts.

[VRWCTexan]

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE58S4Q820090929

7.9 magnitude quake sparks tsunami warning for New Zealand

[amom]

Any Tsunami warnings?

7.9 magnitude quake sparks tsunami warning for New Zealand Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:40pm EDT http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE58S4Q820090929

[amom]

Thanks for the info.

[Elle Bee]

there goes the long form birth certificate LOL

.

[Kathy in Alaska]

WOW! I will make contact and pass along.

[Kathy in Alaska]

The news just said a tsunami has hit American Samoa, but no reports of damage yet.