Categorized | Earthquake, News

Very strong 7.1M quake near the coast of Peru, no tsunami threat to Hawaii

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 3
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
1027 UTC SUN JAN 14 2018

..PTWC FINAL TSUNAMI THREAT MESSAGE...

THE TSUNAMI FORECAST IS UNCHANGED IN THIS MESSAGE.


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

 * MAGNITUDE      7.1
 * ORIGIN TIME    0919 UTC JAN 14 2018
 * COORDINATES    15.7 SOUTH  74.7 WEST
 * DEPTH          10 KM / 6 MILES
 * LOCATION       NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU


EVALUATION
----------

 * AN EARTHQUAKE WITH A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 7.1 OCCURRED
   NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU AT 0919 UTC ON SUNDAY JANUARY
   14 2018.

 * BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA... THE TSUNAMI THREAT FROM THIS
   EARTHQUAKE HAS NOW PASSED.

 * NO TSUNAMI WAVES WERE OBSERVED ON THE NEAREST SEA LEVEL
   GAUGES AVAILABLE TO THIS CENTER.


TSUNAMI THREAT FORECAST...UPDATED
---------------------------------

 * THERE IS NO LONGER A TSUNAMI THREAT FROM THIS EARTHQUAKE.


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

 * REMAIN OBSERVANT AND EXERCISE NORMAL CAUTION NEAR THE SEA.
   OTHERWISE... NO ACTION IS REQUIRED.


POTENTIAL IMPACTS
-----------------

 * MINOR SEA LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS MAY OCCUR IN SOME COASTAL AREAS
   NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.


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.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

 

Quantcast