Tsunami Warning for Hawaii, First Wave at 11:19 a.m. HST, 10-15 Foot Waves; Advisory for West Coast

Saturday, February 27, 2010 | Kristinn/ NWS

[kristinn]

The National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning for Hawaii and a tsunami advisory for the West Coast of the United States.

A NWS spokesman on CNN says it is estimated the tsunami waves will be 10 to 15 feet high when they hit Hawaii. The tsunmi waves could last up to six hours.

Recent buoy reports of wave heights vary from 5 to 16 feet.

Latest statement on Hawaii:

BULLETIN
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 7
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
148 AM HST SAT FEB 27 2010

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WARNING SUPPLEMENT

A TSUNAMI WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII.

SNIP

EVALUATION

A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED THAT COULD CAUSE DAMAGE ALONG COASTLINES OF ALL ISLANDS IN THE STATE OF HAWAII. URGENT ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT LIVES AND PROPERTY.

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF LONG OCEAN WAVES. EACH INDIVIDUAL WAVE CREST CAN LAST 5 TO 15 MINUTES OR MORE AND EXTENSIVELY FLOOD COASTAL AREAS. THE DANGER CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL WAVE AS SUBSEQUENT WAVES ARRIVE. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. TSUNAMI WAVES EFFICIENTLY WRAP AROUND ISLANDS. ALL SHORES ARE AT RISK NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION THEY FACE. THE TROUGH OF A TSUNAMI WAVE MAY TEMPORARILY EXPOSE THE SEAFLOOR BUT THE AREA WILL QUICKLY FLOOD AGAIN. EXTREMELY STRONG AND UNUSUAL NEARSHORE CURRENTS CAN ACCOMPANY A TSUNAMI. DEBRIS PICKED UP AND CARRIED BY A TSUNAMI AMPLIFIES ITS DESTRUCTIVE POWER. SIMULTANEOUS HIGH TIDES OR HIGH SURF CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE TSUNAMI HAZARD.

THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME IN HAWAII OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

1119 AM HST SAT 27 FEB 2010

The NWS has also issued a tsunami warning for most of the Pacific region:

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 006
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1147Z 27 FEB 2010

Here is a local report on the West Coast tsunami advisory:

A tsunami advisory has been issued for the California coast, including Del Norte County, following a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck off the central coast of Chile at 10:34 p.m. PST Friday.

The forecasted arrival time for Crescent City is 1:46 p.m. PST Saturday, however tsunamis can be dangerous for many hours after arrival, and the initial wave is not necessarily the largest, the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center says.

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA... WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

... A WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT ...

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

CHILE / PERU / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / ANTARCTICA / PANAMA / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / PITCAIRN / HONDURAS / EL SALVADOR / GUATEMALA / FR. POLYNESIA / MEXICO / COOK ISLANDS / KIRIBATI / KERMADEC IS / NIUE / NEW ZEALAND / TONGA / AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA / JARVIS IS. / WALLIS-FUTUNA / TOKELAU / FIJI / AUSTRALIA / HAWAII / PALMYRA IS. / TUVALU / VANUATU / HOWLAND-BAKER / NEW CALEDONIA / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / NAURU / MARSHALL IS. / MIDWAY IS. / KOSRAE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / POHNPEI / WAKE IS. / CHUUK / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / INDONESIA / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / YAP / BELAU / JAPAN / PHILIPPINES / CHINESE TAIPEI

[califamily4W]

“Point Concepcion, California 1217 PST FEB 27 2017 UTC FEB 27”

thanks, that’s me.

[freebird5850]

I’m listening to the police scanner on the internet and there is a report of 2 hunters dep in a valley that may not know of the coming tsunami. The police are going to fly helicopters over them and tell them using the p.a. horn on the helicopter.

[tcrlaf]

PER TWITTER:

ALL VESSELS ASKED TO EVACUATE STATE HARBORS. (Hawaii)

[Mom MD]

wouldnt that scare the sneakers right off you. If you are out hiking, a helicopter hovering overhead to give you a message would certainly get your attention!

[roses of sharon]

Carl Rove just tweeted that he is in Hawaii...

[nmh]

What a GREAT map!

Thanks for posting.

[Mom MD]

I knew he had a hurricane machine, must be testing the tsunami machine! (No disrespect meant, I am praying for those in harms way)

[Lockbar]

How about our military guys on Wake and Midway Islands? Those are pretty flat, not any high ground at all.

[NonValueAdded]

He might not be at the controls now ... elections have consequences!

[gleeaikin]

Looking at this NOAA tsunami map, it looks like everyone on our West Coast from California to Alaska and the Alutian Islands should be alert to danger. A good day to not go to the beach.

[Eye of Unk]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/special/Alaska_eqs.php

MAG UTC DATE-TIME
y/m/d h:m:s LAT
deg LON
deg DEPTH
km LOCATION
MAP 1.7 2010/02/27 16:12:43 60.568 -152.008 69.5 38 km ( 24 mi) W of Salamatof, AK
MAP 1.8 2010/02/27 16:05:09 61.604 -150.067 44.8 12 km ( 7 mi) NW of Big Lake, AK
MAP 2.7 2010/02/27 15:16:06 64.609 -149.293 1.3 8 km ( 5 mi) W of Four Mile Road, AK
MAP 1.4 2010/02/27 12:52:36 61.387 -147.353 19.8 52 km ( 32 mi) SSE of Glacier View, AK
MAP 2.2 2010/02/27 10:54:58 59.316 -152.960 96.7 60 km ( 37 mi) W of Nanwalek, AK
MAP 1.8 2010/02/27 10:16:11 61.190 -146.475 8.3 12 km ( 7 mi) NW of Valdez, AK
MAP 2.0 2010/02/27 10:11:47 61.150 -150.289 20.5 29 km ( 18 mi) W of Anchorage, AK
MAP 3.8 2010/02/27 09:40:02 61.871 -150.942 55.1 17 km ( 11 mi) E of Skwentna, AK
MAP 3.6 2010/02/27 08:08:50 62.755 -148.809 0.1 71 km ( 44 mi) S of Cantwell, AK
MAP 2.5 2010/02/27 05:19:42 58.912 -152.897 71.9 75 km ( 46 mi) SW of Nanwalek, AK
MAP 2.0 2010/02/27 02:08:22 60.931 -146.700 21.7 7 km ( 5 mi) N of Tatitlek, AK
MAP 2.9 2010/02/27 01:54:40 62.565 -151.520 105.6 45 km ( 28 mi) WNW of Petersville, AK
MAP 2.1 2010/02/27 01:53:00 62.046 -147.738 35.5 25 km ( 16 mi) N of Glacier View, AK
MAP 1.6 2010/02/27 00:08:55 65.115 -147.411 0.3 21 km ( 13 mi) NNE of Fox, AK
MAP 2.2 2010/02/27 00:05:56 62.970 -150.689 127.0 66 km ( 41 mi) N of Petersville, AK

I would say the frequency is higher around here though they are pretty small, I am 11 miles north of Wasilla or about 6 miles east of Big Lake, and there was one recently so my cats were right!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Dont worry, they have various crews there in Hawaii, even some State national guard with blackhawk helicopters and such, combing all these various beach places and campsites and deserted areas all around Oahu (if it is Oahu, if not the other islands have them to, and they are also of course all under this watch), to precisely reach such people camping *away from civilization* withough phones or radios or what not—so not to worry. They have these immense bullhorns in those things and will be combing all shore areas with an eage eye, making announcments from the air, too, throughout the day to warn people.

[WSGilcrest]

[Domandred]

Sister in law’s cabin is on the coast of Oahu I found out. Not sure about which coast though. I expect at worse her vacation will be ruined.

[DesertRhino]

Good point,, wonder what the proceedure is on those flat sand islands that never rise 6 or 8 feet above the water?

[Grunthor]

I have three teen daughters.

I bow to you sir, I almost fell out of my chair laughing.

[Cvengr]

thanks for the pic.

[married21]

That’s some fast moving water.

Our family travels roughly between San Pedro and Port San Luis a few times a year. With LA and Santa Barbara traffic, it takes us over 4 hours.

The tsunami is getting there in 35 minutes.

[RayChuang88]

I remember seeing in a short documentary a community of native Hawaiians living just east of Honolulu along the southeast shore of Oahu. I hope they have some sense and left their homes for higher ground by now--even an eight foot surge that lasts supposedly 40 minutes will scour that coast pretty much clean.

[AmericanInTokyo]

I know. As I would be roused from my Saturday morning sleep, probably only three words would go through my mind there in Hawaii: Kim....Jong....Il.