Sorry for the caps locks guys, I just thought this was worth being attention grabbing.
CNN and MSNBC don't have details yet, just a warning header. An 8.1 (reports vary) earthquake in the Kurill Islands is causing a tsunami warning for the Pacific side of the Honshu (the big island) and Hokkaido islands for Japan.
The BBC is the only news source with any details I could find.
quote:A tsunami is expected to hit the north and east coasts of Japan, the country's meteorological agency says. The agency says the tsumami will be at least two metres (6.5 feet) high and could hit Hokkaido and Honshu islands after 1210 GMT.
1210 GMT is about 715 AM EST. If anyone was wondering, this is supposed to go down in the next fifteen minutes and after.
[ January 13, 2007, 12:27 AM: Message edited by: Lyrhawn ]
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Looks like they don't think it's going to be super serious. No one in Japan seems to have felt the big quake, but then a smaller quake is the one that caused the damage to Indonesia, and that was in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
We should be seeing in the next half hour if there's any damage. Authorities say the risk is zero for the US pacific coast and Hawaii, and neglibigle for the Aleutian Islands. Russia is on alert.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Update (I'm getting this from a combination of BBC/CNN/The Radio)
Alaskan coastal areas from Dutch Harbor to Attu are being evacuated, and everyone in low lying coastal areas is being told to seek higher ground.
Tsunami expected to hit (if it does at all) Japan in the next 90 min.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Reports from the radio say that the tsunami has hit Japan with a 16 inch wave of water.
Much less than anticipated.
Looks like the perceived crisis is over.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
16 inches doesn't sound too bad. Heck... that's not a tsunami... that's a normal wave. That's a smaller than normal wave. They sure they've got the right tsunami there?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Well, I think the main difference is that it isn't just one big wave, it's one wave, and then another, and another, and another, and they don't roll right back into the sea, the subsequent waves just push the first waves further and further inland relentlessly.
Thankfully, this turned out to be something of a false alarm.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
quote: HONOLULU (CNN) -- A tsunami warning was issued Saturday for Japan and a broad area surrounding the Pacific Ocean after a major undersea earthquake east of the Kuril Islands, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Tsunami waves between one and two meters were possible at about 2 p.m. local time near Hokaido, Japan and other areas of Japan's northern island, according to another warning from the Japan Meteorology Agency.
The earthquake was measured at a massive 8.4 magnitude at 11:23 p.m. ET (0423 GMT), the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center bulletin said.
"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," the bulletin said.