Tsunami watch & warnings in effect

Magnitude 8.5 – BIO-BIO, CHILE

2010 February 27 06:34:13 UTC

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TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 0646Z 27 FEB 2010

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

 CHILE / PERU

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR

 ECUADOR

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 -  0634Z 27 FEB 2010
 COORDINATES -  36.1 SOUTH   72.6 WEST
 DEPTH       -   55 KM
 LOCATION    -  NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
 MAGNITUDE   -  8.5

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
 --------------------------------    ------------    ------------
 CHILE            TALCAHUANO         36.7S  73.1W    0729Z 27 FEB
                  VALPARAISO         33.0S  71.6W    0739Z 27 FEB
                  COQUIMBO           29.9S  71.3W    0801Z 27 FEB
                  CORRAL             39.8S  73.5W    0810Z 27 FEB
                  CALDERA            27.1S  70.8W    0821Z 27 FEB
                  ANTOFAGASTA        23.3S  70.4W    0844Z 27 FEB
                  IQUIQUE            20.2S  70.1W    0911Z 27 FEB
                  ARICA              18.5S  70.3W    0929Z 27 FEB
                  GOLFO DE PENAS     47.1S  74.9W    0934Z 27 FEB
                  PUERTO MONTT       41.5S  73.0W    1052Z 27 FEB
                  EASTER IS.         27.1S 109.4W    1205Z 27 FEB
                  PUNTA ARENAS       53.2S  70.9W    1213Z 27 FEB
 PERU             MOLLENDO           17.1S  72.0W    0936Z 27 FEB
                  SAN JUAN           15.3S  75.2W    0952Z 27 FEB
                  LA PUNTA           12.1S  77.2W    1045Z 27 FEB
                  PIMENTAL            6.9S  80.0W    1114Z 27 FEB
                  TALARA              4.6S  81.5W    1127Z 27 FEB
                  CHIMBOTE            9.0S  78.8W    1132Z 27 FEB
 ECUADOR          LA LIBERTAD         2.2S  81.2W    1202Z 27 FEB
                  ESMERELDAS          1.2N  79.8W    1234Z 27 FEB

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.

___________________________________________________________
UPDATE
To: U.S. West Coast, Alaska, and British Columbia coastal regions
From:  NOAA/NWS/West Coast and Alaska
Tsunami Warning Center

Subject:
Tsunami Information Statement #2
issued 02/26/2010 at 11:52PM PST

A strong earthquake has occurred, but a tsunami IS NOT
expected along the California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, or Alaska coast.
NO tsunami warning, watch or advisory is in effect for these areas.

A tsunami has been generated that could potentially
impact the U.S. west coast, British Columbia, and Alaska.
The West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center is
investigating the event to determine the level of danger.
More information will be issued as it becomes available.

A tsunami has been observed at the following sites:
 Location                   Lat.   Lon.    Time        Amplitude
 ------------------------  -----  ------  -------     -----------

 83min     Talcahuano  C   36.7S   73.1W  0716UTC      1.15M/3.8FT
 45min     Valparaiso  C   33.0S   71.4W  0706UTC      1.29M/4.2FT
           Juan Ferdandez C 33.617S 78.83W             0.19M/0.6FT
Time - Time of measurement.
Amp. - Tsunami amplitudes are measured relative to normal sea

level.  It is NOT crest-to-trough wave height.

Values are given in both meters (M) and feet (FT).
At 10:34 PM Pacific Standard Time on February 26, an

earthquake with

preliminary magnitude 8.6 (REVISED FROM 8.5)

occurred near the coast of central Chile

.

(Refer to the United States Geological Survey for official earthquake parameters.)
The Pacific

Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii will issue a

tsunami warning

for regions near the epicenter.

Tiny tsunami reaches Japan; Pacific damage small – Yahoo! News
“As the wave continued its expansion across the ocean, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said its tsunami alert applied to its entire Pacific coast, with the waves expected to be biggest in the north. It said a tsunami of up to 9.8 feet (3 meters) could hit the northern prefectures of Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi, though the first waves were much smaller.

[...]

In Tonga, where up to 50,000 people fled inland hours ahead of the tsunami, the National Disaster Office had reports of a wave up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) high hitting a small northern island, deputy director Mali’u Takai said. There were no initial indications of damage.

Nine people died in Tonga last September when the Samoa tsunami slammed the small northern island of Niuatoputapu, wiping out half of the main settlement.

[...]

On New Zealand’s Chatham Islands earlier Sunday, officials reported a wave measured at 6.6 feet (2 meters).

Oceanographer Ken Gledhill said it was typical tsunami behavior when the sea water dropped a meter off North Island’s east coast at Gisborne then surged back.

[...]

In Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology reported a tsunami measuring 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) off Norfolk Island, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) northeast of Sydney. There were no immediate reports of damage.”
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