UPDATE: The Tsunami alerts for Hawaii, California, and the Greater Pacific Ocean have been canceled. The quake was downgraded to a (powerful) M7.7.
#11,996
Just three hours or so after the M6.5 off the California coast, a Major quake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.0 has just struck the Solomon Islands.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is analysing the data, but has released the following statement:
748 AM HST THU DEC 08 2016
TO - EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE STATE OF HAWAII
SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WATCH
A TSUNAMI WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT
0748 AM HST.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME - 0739 AM HST 08 DEC 2016
COORDINATES - 10.7 SOUTH 161.4 EAST
LOCATION - SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAGNITUDE - 8.0 MOMENT
EVALUATION
BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY THIS EARTHQUAKE THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ON COASTAL AREAS EVEN FAR FROM THE EPICENTER. AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS A TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.
IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THE ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS
0256 PM HST THU 08 DEC 2016
FURTHER MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT UNTIL THE THREAT TO HAWAII HAS PASSED.
