Solomon Islands Earthquake Sets Off Tsunami Warning In South Pacific

[bust]

Problem was there was a complete loss of power across the Solomon Islands which meant none of the warning sirens worked. They may want to look into that

 

A tsunami warning has been cancelled for parts of the South Pacific after a strong earthquake hit off the Solomon Islands in the early hours of Friday morning.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) had initially warned that hazardous waves of up to three metres could have been generated by the 7.8-magnitude quake, which struck at 4.38am AEDT at a depth of 49 kilometres.

 

 

 

The initial tsunami warning covered the coasts of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, New Caledonia, Tuvalu and Kosrae.

But three hours after the quake struck, the PTWC said: "Based on all available data, the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed."

"Minor sea level fluctuations of up to 0.3 metres above and below the normal tide may continue over the next few hours," the centre said. Residents in coastal areas should "remain observant and exercise normal caution near the sea," it said.

A 12-centimetre tsunami wave was observed off the coast of Honiara following the quake, the PTWC said, while a 10-centimetre wave was observed off Luganville in Vanuatu.

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The quake struck 63 kilometres south-west of the Solomon Islands town of Kirakira. It was almost immediately followed by a 5.5-magnitude aftershock.

The US Geological Survey initially reported the quake was of magnitude 8, but later downgraded its size to 7.8.

There was no threat to the Australian mainland from a tsunami, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

The New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence initially issued a marine and beach threat, but later cancelled that warning. However, the ministry warned people to stay out of the water due to possible strong and unusual currents for the rest of the day, especially on New Zealand's west coast.

Few reports have come in from the Solomon Islands, where the earthquake has reportedly caused widespread blackouts, knocked out phone systems and even caused the tsunami warning system to go down.

Loti Yates, from the National Disaster Management Office in the capital Honiara, told the ABC that there had been reports of houses collapsing due to the quake.

Mr Yates said poor communication infrastructure had made it hard to assess the immediate impact.

"[One community] that has been in touch with us said they are calling from up the hills, which is good, they activated their own emergency plans and know what to do, so we are happy," he said.

"The warning has been issued ... at this stage, communication difficulties are hampering our ability to get clear information."

One person, Tali Hong, wrote on Twitter from the capital Honiara that there was a blackout across the city.

[My Penis is hungry]

Just off a call with Kosrei team, no Tsunami to report, Tuvalu team ok. Nearly all places I now work in.

[Dexi]

" A 12 cm sunami wave was observed ".....how did they know it wasn`t just an ordinary wave

[baa99]

" A 12 cm sunami wave was observed ".....how did they know it wasn`t just an ordinary wave

 

http://www.bom.gov.au/tsunami/about/detection_buoys.shtml

 

A tsunami wave in deep water creates a small but measurable change in pressure that will be maintained for as long as twenty minutes. By monitoring any such changes, subsea detectors can be used to trigger an alarm that sends a warning message to a buoy-mounted receiver on the surface. The buoy, in turn, relays the message via a satellite data link to a control centre that can issue a warning to vulnerable communities.

[Coss]

Also, waves happen in regular repeating patterns, a Tsunami, however small, is obvious to the eye.

 

I saw one once, it was more of a level raising than a wave, the water rose quite quickly by 30 cm, held there for about 10 seconds, fell back, lowered by about the same amount, held for 10 seconds and repeated, diminishing over the next 15 minutes.

[bust]

http://www.bom.gov.a...ion_buoys.shtml

 

A tsunami wave in deep water creates a small but measurable change in pressure that will be maintained for as long as twenty minutes. By monitoring any such changes, subsea detectors can be used to trigger an alarm that sends a warning message to a buoy-mounted receiver on the surface. The buoy, in turn, relays the message via a satellite data link to a control centre that can issue a warning to vulnerable communities.

 

I at least expected a Youtube video to support this

[BelgianBoy]

" A 12 cm sunami wave was observed ".....how did they know it wasn`t just an ordinary wave

because sunami waves are smaller than tsunami waves

[baa99]

I at least expected a Youtube video to support this