HUGE 7.9 Earthquake South Pacific

This is a BIG earthquake and a Tsunami is now 'sweeping across' the southern Pacific:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/09/major_79_earthquake_in_pacific.html

Tsunami warnings issued for the following:

Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Samoa, American Samoa and a half-dozen other island nations. In Hawaii, it will arrive in about four hours from now. No tsunami issued for the west coast of the USA.
 
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An all of New Zealand Tsunami watch now implemented.

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/tsunami-warning-threat-new-zealand/5/25607

UPDATE @ 20:13Z:

If there is a tsunami in NZ, it will hit the East Cape first at 9.44am. It would then hit Gisborne at 10.00am, Napier at 10.40am, Wellington at 10.50am and Auckland at 11.12am (local time).

UPDATE @2031Z:

# Tsunami Warning Update - Urgent

Residents in low-lying areas of the Coromandel coast are being urged to move to higher ground NOW because of a potential one-metre high tsunami due to hit shortly (at approx 9.45am NZ time).

http://www.voxy.co.nz/users/voxy-news-engine
 
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yes, I hear the NZ coastal areas at risk are being evacuated. The NZ Civil Defence has opened the response plans.

It looks like the end for some people living on the really lowlying atolls out in the Pacific though. Sea level rise plus a tsunami - oh dear.
 
sarabande said:
that's not far from my buddies on North Island NZ.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/region/S_Pacific.php


If he is at sea, he should be OK; waves in mid ocean are low and fast till they reach the shore.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center will be on the ball and has issued warnings.

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/hawaii/2009/hawaii.2009.09.29.180549.txt
Click to expand...


You evidently have never seen one in full song!!!!!!!!


Theoretically low and fast.........I have reported on the web various times the encounter with one....No problem for a yacht as if no wind then it is not a breaking wave and in fact not a wave at all it is a negative wave IE trough.


The one we encountered on a 25,000 ton ship was big enough to cause the ship to pitch to a downward angle of more than 10 degrees with the bow slamming into the back of the trough. It was a calm day mid pacific and luckily the crew were enjoying tiffin.

Only two of us saw the trough approaching which looked like a dark shadow running the extreme length of the horizon. Doing some calculations afterwards put its speed around 100MPH.


Thoughts of the Derbyshire came to mind afterwards as we were more fortunate and luckily hit it obliquely due to a last minute course change.


I often think of this sunny mornings adventure when I see folk saying they are SMALL and fast:D:D.

The thought is that this is what sailors of old referred to as black holes in the ocean as in the dark that is what it would feel like.

My wife was in our cabin which faced forwards sitting at the back of it with another wife. She realised things were not right when she saw the horizon disappear above the top of the forward window!!!!

Not always small in mid ocean and not always a wave like at the sea side.
 
We were leaving New Caledonia as the Tsunami hit - it was reported on the VHF by the coastguard there. The wave hit the north end of New Cal but not severely. We have been talking on the HF to people in Tonga and Fiji where many boats have been damaged by the surge. We were in Tonga and Fiji only weeks ago and know first hand many of the boats, people and areas affected - very sobering.
We have friends cruising around Samoa at the moment, and all our immediate friends managed to get out to sea and saw nothing worse than some swell. We do however know a friend of a friend who was swept off the dock whilst trying to release his mooring warps and drowned.
Its a terrible thing to have happened and even worse when one considers that in places like Tonga and Samoa the locals have very little and the damaged caused will be long lasting. Also for the yachties out there, any boat damage will be difficult to fix with limited supplies and expensive shipping costs from NZ for any parts that need ordering (along with a lengthy delay which especially at this time of year they cannot afford - most boats are already starting to head to Aus or NZ for the cyclone season).
Terrible tragedy, but it could have been far worse.
Jonny
 
We were about 80 miles from the epicenter off the SW of Samoa when the earthquake struck, probably as close as any yacht.

We noticed strange vibration on the water surface at the time of the vibration, but of the tsunami, which came to us from the same direction as the swell, not a thing.

Very sad to hear that our friend Danny on "Mainly" was lost in Pago Pago.
 
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