USGS WARNING for HAWAII TSUNAMI
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

1105 AM HST SAT 27 FEB 2010

Please note that this huge quake has sent shock waves headed for all Pacific coastlines. These waves have been measured between an inch and 7.3 feet. If you live in any pacific coastal area you should be taking precautions at this time. It is not the day to enjoy the beach – trust me on that one.

Since my last post there have been 8 more 5.2 – 5.5 mag quakes in Chili. Only one of the 5 mags quakes so far today have been in another location – which was the Rukuyu Islands of Japan where a 7.0 magnitude quake was experienced just yesterday (2/26). One of the subsequent 6 magnitude 6 quakes was also in Argentina rather than Chile, but is most probably resultant from the Chili occurrence.

IN OTHER NATURAL DISASTER NEWS — VOLCANOES

There are at the time 25 Volcanoes at Code Orange, alert level 3 are active globally at the time

There is also one Volcano at Code Red, Alert Level 5 is now active — Chaiten on the Gulf of Corcovado has been code red since the 18th of February.

About Alert Codes and Alert Levels:

ORANGE = Volcano is in eruption or eruption may occur at any time.
OR Alert Level 2
Alert Level 3 = Significant local eruption in progress.
Alert Level 4 = Hazardous local eruption in progress.

RED = Significant eruption is occurring or explosive eruption is
expected at any time.
OR Alert Level 5

It seems that the current crustal shift is playing some havoc. Those in volatile areas may want to start keeping track of what scientists are saying about prospects for disasters in their own areas, and start learning to prepare for them as well.

Last night Chile was hit by an 8.8 magnitude quake that is sending a wall of water toward Hawaii. It is expected to hit the Hawaii coast in a few hours – around 11:00. They have updated that time recently -the water is moving faster than they had first realized.

On the 26th a 7.0 magnitude quake hit just off of Japan at 22km depth – sparking tsunami watches.

As of the magnitude 8.8 quake that hit Chile last night at a depth of 35km, there have been six magnitude 6 quakes at 35km depth – on 6.9 quake which is very nearly the size that just toppled Haiti.

For perspective on the wall of water headed for Hawaii – it is about three times the size of the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia.

There have also been 28 after shock quakes of 5.0 – 5.9 magnitude at depths of 35km in the region of Chili since that time.

We will update you on this event with more information about quakes and current geological states of the earth today.

If you are living in a coastal area, you might just want travel in shore a ways today even if you are not in Hawaii.