8.1 Magnitude Quake off Pacific Island Nation Prompts Tsunami Warning
BANGKOK, Thailand — A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck early Thursday near the South Pacific nation of Tonga, the U.S. Geological Survey said. A tsunami warning was issued for Fiji and New Zealand.
The temblor, classified by the USGS as a "great" quake, struck 95 miles south of Neiafu, Tonga, and 1,340 miles north-northeast of Auckland, New Zealand. It occurred 20 miles beneath the sea floor.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the tsunami warning but said it was not known whether the quake generated a potentially deadly giant wave.
CountryWatch: Tonga
Tonga — a 170-island archipelago about halfway between Australia and Tahiti — has a population of about 108,000 and an economy dependent on pumpkin and vanilla exports, fishing, foreign aid and remittances from Tongans abroad.
It is ruled by 87-year-old King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, who is ailing.
On Dec. 26, 2004, the most powerful earthquake in four decades — magnitude 9.0 — ripped apart the Indian Ocean floor off Indonesia's Sumatra island, displacing millions of tons of water and spawning giant waves that sped off in all directions.
The tsunami left at least 216,000 people dead or missing in a dozen nations.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
8.0 Magnitude Quake off Pacific Island Nation Prompts Tsunami Warning
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck early Thursday near the South Pacific nation of Tonga, and a tsunami warning was issued, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
A warning said it was possible a tsunami could hit Fiji and New Zealand. Police in Fiji and Tonga said there were no signs of impact from a tsunami. A New Zealand police officer said east coast authorities were on high alert for a possible tsunami.
Speaking about the time a wave was forecast to reach the islands, police spokesman Mesake Koroi in Fiji's capital, Suva, said there had been no immediate reports of a tsunami.
A police officer in Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, said there were no immediate reports of damage or a tsunami.
Another officer in Neiafu, 180 miles to the north, said the quake was felt for about 90 seconds.
"It was strong but not long," duty constable Salesi Baongo said.
Asked whether the tsunami warning had been received, Baongo said, "No, we haven't heard about it."
Mary Fonua, a publisher in Nuku'alofa, said it was the most powerful quake she had felt in 27 years in Tonga.
"It was rocking and rolling the floor was shaking, the whole family stood in the doorway and we heard crockery breaking in the kitchen and books fell from the shelves," she said.
"It's very dark and the power went off during the quake ... staff are reporting big flashes as the electricity grid went down during the shake and lines were broken," she added.
"It felt very close but we haven't heard a tsunami warning" in the capital, she said.
The temblor, classified by the USGS as a "great" quake, struck 95 miles south of Neiafu, Tonga, and 1,340 miles north-northeast of Auckland, New Zealand. It occurred 20 miles beneath the sea floor.
The U.S. National Weather Service warned that a tsunami could strike Fiji as soon as 1:13 p.m. EDT Wednesday and New Zealand by 2:21 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it was not known whether the quake generated a potentially deadly giant wave. It issued the warning for Tonga, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa, Wallis-Futuna, Fiji.
"There's a chance that there could be a tsunami," said Barry Hirshorn, a geophysicist at the Tsunami Warning Center. "But in reality, there's not much danger except for areas close to the earthquake."
The Tsunami Warning Center's instruments detected that there could be small tsunamis with half-meter waves in the areas close to the earthquake, Hirshorn said.
"We're not observing much of a tsunami," he said. "Strictly speaking, it's not very devastating."
A tsunami advisory was issued for Hawaii, but the warning center said the earthquake, based on historical records, was not sufficient to generate a tsunami damaging to the Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada, and Alaska. Some areas may experience small sea-level changes.
The earthquake struck early Thursday 95 miles south of Neiafu, Tonga, and 1,340 miles north-northeast of Auckland, New Zealand. It occurred 20 miles beneath the sea floor.
Tonga — a 170-island archipelago about halfway between Australia and Tahiti — has a population of about 108,000 and an economy dependent on pumpkin and vanilla exports, fishing, foreign aid and remittances from Tongans abroad.
Now the last monarchy in the Pacific, Tonga has been a Polynesian kingdom and a protectorate of Britain, from which it acquired independence in 1970.
It is ruled by 87-year-old King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, who is ailing.
On Dec. 26, 2004, the most powerful earthquake in four decades — magnitude 9.0 — ripped apart the Indian Ocean floor off Indonesia's Sumatra island, displacing millions of tons of water and spawning giant waves that sped off in all directions.
The tsunami left at least 216,000 people dead or missing in a dozen nations.
Fiji, a South Pacific country made up of more than 300 islands, a third of which are inhabited, is regularly rattled by earthquakes, but few cause any damage or casualties.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
(CNN) -- All tsunami warnings issued after a major quake in the southern Pacific Ocean have been canceled, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
The alerts for the southwestern Pacific Islands were issued early Thursday (local time) after an earthquake measuring about 8.0 in magnitude shook the region.
The quake's epicenter was about 153 kilometers (95 miles) off the coast of Tonga, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It struck Thursday at 4:26 a.m. in Tonga (Wednesday at 1526 GMT).
The USGS said it issued the warning "based only on the earthquake evaluation."
Paula Chipman, an American tourist in Tonga's capital, Nukualofa, called it "a major, major shaker" and said it was impossible to assess the damage on the island because it was still dark.
"We felt it. We felt it huge," she said.
One guest at her hotel hurt his foot when he jumped from a balcony to get out, Chipman said.
"Everybody was bailing out of the building," she said.
Chipman said the area around her hotel was without power in the early morning darkness, except for several hotels -- including hers -- which were apparently running on back-up generators. Guests had heard "absolutely nothing, zero" from authorities on the island in the aftermath of the quake.
On the island of Fiji, to the west of Tonga, several people reported no damage. One local journalist said he felt a tremor, but said the local seismologists had recorded a much weaker quake.
David Applegate, senior science adviser for the USGS, said the earthquake was likely to affect only "a relatively small population."
"So far, we've got five responses in four city areas on the islands of Tonga, with intensities ranging from fairly light shaking up to very strong shaking," Applegate said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for the islands of Tonga, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji and Wallis-Futuna.
The center's most recent report said a tsunami could have begun to affect the islands as early as Wednesday afternoon.
An earlier warning for New Zealand was canceled, and an advisory for the Hawaiian Islands said only that coastal areas might experience "small sea-level changes."
"When no major waves are observed for two hours after the estimated time of arrival or damaging waves have not occurred for at least two hours, then local authorities can assume the threat is passed," the tsunami center's last bulletin said. "Danger to boats and coastal structures can continue for several hours due to rapid currents."
Applegate said the magnitude of the quake was larger than the 1989 temblor that struck the San Francisco Bay area, but "considerably smaller" than the December 26, 2004, quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
That quake -- with a magnitude of 9.0 -- triggered a massive tsunami that spread across the Indian Ocean, killing more than 200,000 people in a dozen countries.
"This is still a large earthquake, but it's not the kind of monster that we saw off Sumatra," he said.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
well, tonga's tsunami warning system failed, so at least something good came out of it.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2004 1:54 am Posts: 7189 Location: CA
Anyone thinking that maybe this whole "Tsunami" busininess might just be a plot on the part of Carribean nations to regain their lost market share from the Pacific?
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