The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning, the highest level of a tsunami alert, for the entire Pacific region, including Hawaii and places as far away as Russia and Japan.
California and Alaska are under a tsunami advisory.
The coastal areas of Hawaii are being evacuated:
The earliest estimated arrival for a wave that could affect Hawaii was 12:46 a.m. local time (6:46 p.m. ET). But evacuations of coastal areas were to begin at 6 a.m. (12 p.m. ET).
Chile has declared a "State Of Catastrophe". The death count is rising.
Update: More from the NYT:
Phone lines were down in Concepcion as of 7:30 a.m. and no reports were coming out of that area. The quake in Chile was 1,000 times more powerful than the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that caused widespread damage in Haiti on Jan 12, killing at least 230,000, earthquake experts reported on CNN International.
1,000 times more powerful? This is gonna be bad, friends.
Update: BULLETIN TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 8 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 250 AM HST SAT FEB 27 2010
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 1119 AM HST SAT 27 FEB 2010 MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.
Many massive aftershocks are being reported. The entire Pacific is under a tsunami warning. Geez.
ReplyDeleteI found a time zone map. Hawaii is four hours behind CST (where I am) and two hours behind PST.
ReplyDelete11:19 HST will be 3:19 here.
Fox is reporting that evacuations will begin at sunrise in Hawaii. Evacuation sirens will begin blaring at that time.
ReplyDelete15-foot waves possible on Hawaiian coast...
ReplyDeleteChile is pretty much first world, with sound civil engineering. I'm watching TV Chile right now via Internet. They are reporting 122 dead, bridges and buildings have collapsed. That is a remarkably low total, considering the devastating power of this monster quake.
ReplyDeleteHonolulu Advertiser is reporting Tsumani sirens across the state to sound at 6am HST. Each county is to implement its Tsumani evacuation plan. I looked at the Maui maps and the evacuation is actually quite modest in scope, though it will affect a lot of poor tourists.
OMG. My heart aches at this news... more devastation. OMG. really NOT good.
ReplyDeleteJourdan, we've noticed that the engineering in Chile appears to be far superior to Haiti, or Mexico City. The death count currently stands at 122, which is certainly better than the hundreds of thousands lost in Haiti.
ReplyDelete~KC~, I know! Can you believe this is happening? :(
ReplyDeleteWell, as Jourdan said, Chile is much more wealthy, and much more modern than Haiti in its building practices, so we can pray that things will not begin to approach the devastation seen there.
ReplyDeleteBut they are getting closer to the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 - at 9.2, the most powerful ever in the Americas, and the second strongest registered since they began to use seismographs.
Last night when this hit Drudge, well that was an extremely strange front page right out of the prophetic pages of the bible.
ReplyDelete8.8 Massive earthquake hits Chile
IMF CHIEF WANTS NEW GLOBAL CURRENCY...
Cybersecurity bill to give Obama new 'emergency powers'...
MASSIVE...
Tsunami threatens Pacific...
Watches/Warnings...
7.0 Earthqake hits off Japan
See, the reason it was weird to see all those things listed together was that bible prophecy talks about the last days containing all these things. The earthquakes are part of what is called "birth pains" by Jesus.
The town hit by the 8.8 is named "Concepcion". Well, you gotta have conception before you have labor pains.
Revelation refers to a one world government that will control all aspects of life throughout the entire world - with one form of "currency" - a mark on head or hand that you can't buy or sell or work without.
Jesus also mentioned in the list of signs "the sea and the waves roaring".
Quite a front page.
I have been looking for photos out of Concepcion, but there are so far only photos of Santiago, which was 385 miles from the epicenter.
385 miles away cars were driving down elevated highways that collapsed and those cars were bounced onto their backs.
I shudder to think what Concepcion must look like. So far I have seen only one new photo - a building on fire but with at least one wall standing.
Wow, even the aftershocks are big - all over 5.0 and the biggest just a while ago was 6.9.
A 6.9 AFTERSHOCK. Unreal.
While an 8.8 is certainly a huge earthquake, and nothing I would want to go through, and my heart goes out to the people of Chile, an 8.8 is not 1000 times more powerful than a 7.0. The magnitude number is a power of ten: an 8.0 would be ten times more powerful than a 7.0 (10 to the first power more, or 10). A 9.0 would be 100 times more powerful than a 7.0 10 to the second power or ten squared more, or 100). I would guess an 8.8 would be about 75 times more powerful than a 7.0.
ReplyDeleteIt would take a magnitude 10 earthquake to be 1000 times more powerful than a 7.0.
Tsumanis are scarey. They can crop up in almost any area with a direct ocean connection. After the Alaska quake in 1964, people were killed on the Northern California coast.
Monkeyweather, the talking heads said that they're expecting aftershocks of up to 7.8! :(
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clarification, Matt.
ReplyDeleteFox News just now said that the quake was 500 times more powerful than the one Haiti. Huh?
I'm not sure any of them know what they're talking about.
I think it is after 1pm our time (PST) that any tsunami generated is forecasted to hit Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteThat's a long time. Boy, pray for Hawaii.
"I'm not sure any of them know what they're talking about."
ReplyDeleteYeah, like I am an expert -- but that is one of the pitfalls in times such as this. People spout off without knowing what they are talking about.
Been through a lot of earthquakes, lots over 6.0, some over 7.0, the highest a 7.3, and I cannot even IMAGINE an 8.8. God, those poor people!
ReplyDeleteYou get thrown into the air and kinda jumbled up and down in a 7.3, just hoping the thing will end without you wearing the roof on your head. Even here in CA, where most buildings are structurally sound for the most part, stuff falls down in the 7's.
Man, I'm really awed by even the thought of something over 8.0, and this was nearing 9.0!
Just saw in the news that the Juan Fernandez island was nearly swallowed by a 130' wave in a series of waves.
ReplyDeleteThat is one big wave!
I am hearing that tsunami waves get larger and more dangerous over distance, but I do not know if this is true or not?
130 foot wave? OMG! Are you sure? That's massive...
ReplyDeleteMy wife's parents and sister live in the Honolulu area - where the live is plenty high enough.
ReplyDeleteWe called, they're prepared and just hanging out waiting.
Lewy, about an hour...
ReplyDeleteYep Lady R - it's in several news sources and came from the Juan Fernandez archipelago itself. Of course, there's a chance that the number was off from the get-go, but that figure is being reported in more than one place.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your family is up high, lewy. Sure nothing to mess with, those horrible waves. We've got an old family friend - known this kid since he was 2 feet tall and now he's a big wave surfer on the north shore of Oahu. Hope he got the news - I'm sure he MUST have since the sirens have been blaring in Hawaii.
"I am hearing that tsunami waves get larger and more dangerous over distance, but I do not know if this is true or not?"
ReplyDeleteYeah, as they move across open ocean, ever more water 'piles up'. You can't tell how high they actually are until there is something in their path. The front breaks on the shore, and the moving water behind keeps pushing it higher.
Trying to picture a 130' wave...hard to fathom.
ReplyDeleteHere's a video I found that comes close. Weird, that was pretty biblical too. Bush Sr. took action against Israel and Kennebunkport was hit by "The Perfect Storm", with up to 100' swells at sea and 30' swells coming ashore.
What a wave over 100' looks like
The path of the "Perfect Storm" would almost be funny if it hadn't been so deadly. Never seen anything like that one:
Chasing Bush - storm path
Well, here we are nearing 1pm. Checked the news, nothing yet seen from Hawaii. Hope it's just nothing.
ReplyDeleteAny minute now, MW...
ReplyDeleteGood news about your family, lewy, I had been a bit worried though I figured they were back from the shoreline.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is interested, Liberation has some very good photos of the damage in Chile:
http://www.liberation.fr/monde/1101791-les-premieres-images-du-seisme-au-chili
I was just reading their last big tsunami in 1960 with the 35' waves. That was from the largest earthquake ever recorded - a 9.5, again in Chile.
ReplyDeleteKilled people in Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines.
I just saw a blip on the news about a couple watching with binoculars from the 35th floor of their hotel in Hawaii. They'll be seeing it first, I'd imagine!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe water is receding in Long Beach. The boats that are tied up to docks are sitting in the mud. Not good. :(
ReplyDeleteOh dear. No, that's not good Lady R.
ReplyDeleteDang - I almost wish it'd get where it's going! Hawaii and half our coastline is in danger and no word of what's going on out in the ocean!
Lady R, where did you read that? Trying to find local stuff....
ReplyDeleteMW, it's on Fox News.
ReplyDeleteSo... Tsunami warnings issued for Vancouver and our coastal cities now. Although not expecting inundation... they are telling everyone to stay out of the marinas and off the beaches as they are all in harms way... and head to higher grounds.
ReplyDeleteThe Olympics aren't totally impacted by it but the weather - that we can feel it.
Hawaii and half our coastline is in danger and no word of what's going on out in the ocean!
ReplyDeleteIf we got better broadband coverage out here you'd be better informed now, wouldn't you?
HA! Yeah Flipper, one thing I did see was Fox's video camera in Hawaii trained on the ocean where there was a small boat out a couple hundred yards and one of your relatives jumped out of the water.
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that, that in Hawaii all you gotta do is look somewhere at the sea and a whale will breach or something else really cool ;O)