7.8 Quake hits off New Zealand-Tsunami Warning Canceled

[Florida1118]

From TWC...There is NO THREAT OF THE TSUNAMI REACHING OVER LAND. No damage is expected, but marine hazards do exist.


NEW YORK (AP) -- A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake rattled New Zealand's remote Kermadec Islands in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A local tsunami warning was issued and New Zealand warned people to avoid the beaches until the threat passed.

The volcanic Kermadec Island peaks are a remote outpost that are generally uninhabited aside from a weather station and a hostel for visiting New Zealand scientists.

The 7:03 a.m. Thursday (1903 GMT Wednesday) quake was 29.8 miles (48 kilometers) deep, the USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a U.S. agency, issued a warning for possible tsunami damage in the Keramecs, Tonga and New Zealand. It said a tsunami measured at 2.2 feet (0.68 meters) was measured at Raoul Island in the Kermadecs.

The Kermadecs are about 570 miles (920 kilometers) south of Tonga, the nearest major island, and are 736 miles (1185 kilometers) northeast of Auckland, New Zealand.

New Zealand's Civil Defense office warned people to stay off beaches and stay out of the water as long as the alert remains in force.

Auckland regional Civil Defense controller Clive Manly told Radio New Zealand the tsunami was not expected to cause damage on land.

"What we mean by a marine threat is that you can get quite extreme currents -- so it is a threat to boats -- but at this stage we are not anticipating damage to land," Manly said

[Florida1118]

000
WEPA40 PHEB 061959
TSUPAC

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 002
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1959Z 06 JUL 2011

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...
WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

... TSUNAMI WARNING CANCELLATION ...

THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND/OR WATCH ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED FOR

KERMADEC IS / TONGA / NEW ZEALAND

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 - 1903Z 06 JUL 2011
COORDINATES - 29.4 SOUTH 175.7 WEST
DEPTH - 48 KM
LOCATION - KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.8

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- -----
BOAT COVE RAOUL IS 29.3S 177.9W 1932Z 1.03M / 3.4FT 04MIN
FISHING ROCK RAOUL 29.3S 177.9W 1926Z 0.99M / 3.3FT 06MIN

LAT - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE
BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. FOR
THOSE AREAS - 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. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN
CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL
CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE
ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS IN THE PACIFIC
ALTHOUGH SOME OTHER AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW CANCELLED FOR ALL AREAS COVERED BY
THIS CENTER.

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.