FOR HAWAII

Hawaii County Civil Defense Tsunami Watch cancellation message

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER   2
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
836 AM HST THU DEC 08 2016

TO - EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WATCH CANCELLATION

THE TSUNAMI WATCH IS CANCELLED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE
AT 0836 AM HST.

NOTE EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE DOWN GRADED TO 7.8 FROM 8.0.

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   - 7.8  MOMENT

EVALUATION

 BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO THE
 STATE OF HAWAII. THEREFORE... THE TSUNAMI WATCH FOR HAWAII IS NOW
 CANCELLED.

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL MESSAGE ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

Estimated travel times for tsunami waves.

FOR SOLOMON ISLANDS

Animation of the forecasted tsunami waves from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the Solomon Islands on Thursday, December 9, 2016 (Hawaii Time).

TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT NUMBER 5
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
2158 UTC THU DEC 8 2016

...PTWC TSUNAMI SUPPLEMENT STATEMENT...

THE TSUNAMI FORECAST IS UNCHANGED IN THIS MESSAGE.


PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
---------------------------------

  * MAGNITUDE      7.8
  * ORIGIN TIME    1739 UTC DEC 8 2016
  * COORDINATES    10.7 SOUTH  161.4 EAST
  * DEPTH          40 KM / 25 MILES
  * LOCATION       SOLOMON ISLANDS


EVALUATION
----------

  * AN EARTHQUAKE WITH A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 7.8 OCCURRED IN
    THE SOLOMON ISLANDS AT 1739 UTC ON THURSDAY DECEMBER 8 2016.

  * ADDITIONAL TSUNAMI OBSERVATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE.

  * NOTE THAT A MAXIMUM WAVE AMPLITUDE OF 0.43 M WAS OBSERVED AT
    TIDE STATION HIENGHENE IN NEW CALEDONIA AND THE AMPLITUDE
    IS CURRENTLY DIMINISHING AT THAT LOCATION.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
-------------------

  * FOR COASTAL AREAS IMPACTED BY TSUNAMI WAVES... CAREFULLY
    MONITOR FOR ANY CONTINUING SEA LEVEL CHANGES. WHEN HAZARDOUS
    WAVES HAVE NOT BEEN OBSERVED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN IT
    CAN BE ASSUMED THE HAZARD HAS PASSED. HOWEVER... CONTINUE TO
    EXERCISE CAUTION AROUND THE SEA AS SMALLER TSUNAMI
    FLUCTUATIONS MAY CONTINUE FOR MANY MORE HOURS.

  * FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS... IF HAZARDOUS WAVES HAVE NOT BEEN
    OBSERVED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL
    TIME THEN IT CAN BE ASSUMED THE HAZARD HAS PASSED.
    HOWEVER... SMALL SEA LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS MAY OCCUR AND NORMAL
    CAUTION AROUND THE SEA SHOULD BE EXERCISED.

TSUNAMI OBSERVATIONS
--------------------

  * THE FOLLOWING ARE TSUNAMI WAVE OBSERVATIONS FROM COASTAL
    AND/OR DEEP-OCEAN SEA LEVEL GAUGES AT THE INDICATED
    LOCATIONS. THE MAXIMUM TSUNAMI HEIGHT IS MEASURED WITH
    RESPECT TO THE NORMAL TIDE LEVEL.

                            GAUGE      TIME OF   MAXIMUM     WAVE
                         COORDINATES   MEASURE   TSUNAMI   PERIOD
    GAUGE LOCATION        LAT   LON     (UTC)     HEIGHT    (MIN)
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    THIO NEW CALEDONIA   21.6S 166.2E    2005   0.07M/ 0.2FT  16
    VANUATU              17.8S 168.3E    2054   0.19M/ 0.6FT  22
    LIFOU NEW CALEDONIA  20.9S 167.3E    1940   0.10M/ 0.3FT  06
    LUGANVILLE VU        15.5S 167.2E    2033   0.18M/ 0.6FT  28
    HIENGHENE NEW CALED  20.7S 164.9E    2054   0.43M/ 1.4FT  12
    OUINNE NEW CALEDONI  22.0S 166.7E    2029   0.14M/ 0.4FT  20
    HONIARA SB            9.4S 160.0E    1856   0.12M/ 0.4FT  18
    DART 55012           15.7S 158.5E    1903   0.03M/ 0.1FT  14
    LATA WHARF SB        10.7S 165.8E    1907   0.08M/ 0.3FT  36


NEXT UPDATE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
--------------------------------------

  * THIS WILL BE THE FINAL STATEMENT ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
    NEW INFORMATION IS RECEIVED OR THE SITUATION CHANGES.

  * AUTHORITATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EARTHQUAKE FROM THE U.S.
    GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT
    EARTHQUAKE.USGS.GOV/EARTHQUAKES -ALL LOWER CASE-.

  * FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THIS EVENT MAY BE FOUND AT
    PTWC.WEATHER.GOV AND AT WWW.TSUNAMI.GOV.

  * COASTAL REGIONS OF HAWAII... AMERICAN SAMOA... GUAM... AND
    CNMI SHOULD REFER TO PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER MESSAGES
    SPECIFICALLY FOR THOSE PLACES THAT CAN BE FOUND AT
    PTWC.WEATHER.GOV.

  * COASTAL REGIONS OF CALIFORNIA... OREGON... WASHINGTON...
    BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA SHOULD ONLY REFER TO U.S.
    NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER MESSAGES THAT CAN BE FOUND
    AT NTWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV.

USGS: How large does an earthquake have to be to cause a tsunami?

Magnitudes below 6.5
Earthquakes of this magnitude are very unlikely to trigger a tsunami.

Magnitudes between 6.5 and 7.5
Earthquakes of this size do not usually produce destructive tsunamis. However, small sea level changes may be observed in the vicinity of the epicenter. Tsunamis capable of producing damage or casualties are rare in this magnitude range but have occurred due to secondary effects such as landslides or submarine slumps.

Magnitudes between 7.6 and 7.8
Earthquakes of this size may produce destructive tsunamis especially near the epicenter; at greater distances small sea level changes may be observed. Tsunamis capable of producing damage at great distances are rare in the magnitude range.

Magnitude 7.9 and greater
Destructive local tsunamis are possible near the epicenter, and significant sea level changes and damage may occur in a broader region.

Note that with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the probability of an aftershock with a magnitude exceeding 7.5 is not negligible. To date, the largest aftershock recorded has been magnitude 7.1 that did not produce a damaging tsunami.