8.8 maGnitude earthquake hits Chile Quake, tsunami destroy Chile beach towns - Chile earthquake- msnbc.com About 1:34 EST this morning..... Now awaiting additional word on damages and possibilities of additional Tsunami's striking many other areas...! Update: Tsunami warning/alert now in effect for the Hawaiian islands! Update: 10-15 ft waves expected to hit the bay areas of Hawaii. Numerous aftershocks, more than 30 so far and...they continue..... 1 registered at 6.9.... This quake is nearly 1,000 times worse than that which hit Haiti recently!....That quake was 7.0.... The last quake was in 1960, and was the largest ever recorded, at 9.5 on the richter scale... Several areas are along the coast and were hit with tsunami's of 10-15 ft in height. No one had any warning, including the vacation spot: "Valpariso". *UNCONFIRMED: New update was Easter Island and Valpariso were hit by a 40 meter tsunami wave....Update: reports of 30 to 40 meters are NOT reliable, but, they have yet to check the actual levels.....they cannot say why, but, they expect the waves to be no more than 10-12 ft. in height. It seems that their equipment may be damaged! Thousands of people are expected to be missing and dead. Concepcion (2nd largest city) has yet to contact anyone since the quake.... Argentina has evacuated areas and buildings as they were also hit by the quake.... Due to electrical outtages, news is slow to come in, and many areas may be totally devastated. Very Few communications.... Bridges are out and 1 that was shown (major North/South route) is cracked in half. This IS a VERY severe blow to the entire South American continent and all the countries therein...... Buildings that stood for hundreds of years and even withstood the 9.5 quake in 1960, are now gone..... 20 listed for warnings include: Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Samoa, Soloman islands, New Guinea, Russia, Indonesia, Guam, Japan, Antarctica, Hawaii, are just a few that may be affected.... Plus: numerous tsunami warnings are being issued worldwide....The danger is expanding exponentially..... The entire Pacific basin is now under Tsunami warnings.... The western US is monitoring the situation and as yet, have no indications a tsunami could hit the west's coastal areas: California, Oregon and Washington are watching closely and may upgrade to a warning status.... Some waves were recorded as high as *UNCONFIRMED: 7.3+ meters in height that were generated along Chile's coast line..... Many areas, cities and towns along the coast are thought to be totally underwater right now..... Over 9 million 720 thousands of people felt the quake.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35616401/ns/us_news/ BULLETIN TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 8 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 250 AM HST SAT FEB 27 2010 TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WARNING SUPPLEMENT A TSUNAMI WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII. AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS ORIGIN TIME - 0834 PM HST 26 FEB 2010 COORDINATES - 36.1 SOUTH 72.6 WEST LOCATION - NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE MAGNITUDE - 8.8 MOMENT MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER ------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- ----- EASTER CL 27.2S 109.5W 1160Z 0.44M / 1.4FT 08MIN ANCUD CL 41.9S 73.8W 0838Z 0.62M / 2.0FT 84MIN CALLAO LA-PUNTA PE 12.1S 77.2W 1029Z 0.36M / 1.2FT 30MIN ARICA CL 18.5S 70.3W 1008Z 0.94M / 3.1FT 42MIN IQUIQUE CL 20.2S 70.1W 0907Z 0.28M / 0.9FT 68MIN ANTOFAGASTA CL 23.2S 70.4W 0941Z 0.49M / 1.6FT 52MIN DART LIMA 32412 18.0S 86.4W 0941Z 0.24M / 0.8FT 36MIN CALDERA CL 27.1S 70.8W 0843Z 0.45M / 1.5FT 20MIN TALCAHUANO CL 36.7S 73.4W 0653Z 2.34M / 7.7FT 88MIN COQUIMBO CL 30.0S 71.3W 0852Z 1.32M / 4.3FT 30MIN CORRAL CL 39.9S 73.4W 0739Z 0.90M / 2.9FT 16MIN SAN FELIX CL 26.3S 80.1W 0815Z 0.53M / 1.7FT 08MIN VALPARAISO CL 33.0S 71.6W 0708Z 1.29M / 4.2FT 20MIN LAT - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH) LON - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST) TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME) AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL. IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT. VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT). PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT. EVALUATION 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 By JAYMES SONG Associated Press Writer updated 36 minutes ago<SCRIPT language=javascript> function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('634028732400000000');</SCRIPT> EWA BEACH, Hawaii - Hawaii braced for a potentially damaging tsunami Saturday, generated by the massive earthquake struck central Chile. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning — its highest alert — for Hawaii, where incoming waves could cause damage along the coastlines across the island chain. A warning was also in effect for Guam, American Samoa and dozens of other Pacific islands. The first waves were expected to arrive in Hawaii at 11:19 a.m. Saturday (4:19 p.m. EST). <HR SIZE=1 noShade itxtvisited="1"> The state planned to sound warning sirens statewide at 6 a.m. to alert residents and tourists of the incoming tsunami, said Shelly Ichishita, spokeswoman for state civil defense. A lower-grade tsunami advisory was in effect for the coast of California and an Alaskan coastal area from Kodiak to Attu islands. The Ewa Beach, Hawaii-based center called for "urgent action to protect lives and property" in Hawaii, which is among 53 nations and territories subject to tsunami warnings. "The main thing is we want everyone to take this event seriously," said Charles McCreery, director of the center. McCreery said he didn't know how big the waves will be, but he expected them to be the largest to hit Hawaii since 1964. People in coastal areas, such as tourist-filled Waikiki, will then be instructions on a possible evacuation. The sirens will also be sounded again three hours prior to the estimated arrival time. "If you're in an evacuation zone, police or civil defense volunteers would instruct you to evacuate, or instructions will come out over the radio and TV," she said. If coastal areas are evacuated, visitors in Waikiki would be moved to higher floors in their hotels, rather than moved out of the tourist district, which could cause gridlock. Ichishita said people who are not in evacuation zones to stay away from coastal areas. Despite the incoming waves, the state was calm through the night with no signs of panic. "We've got a lot of things going for us," McCreery said. "We have a reasonable lead time. The evacuation should all take place during daylight hours, and wave impact should be during daylight hours. "We should be able to alert everyone in harm's way to move out of the evacuation zones." Barry Hirschon, also of the Tsunami center, said the advisory for the California coast and parts of Alaska was the agency's lowest level alert. "It's a heads up that there's been a tsunami event and it could affect the coasts later," Hirschon told CNN. "I don't think it will be updated to a warning." The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile in 1960. The deadly wave that it caused raced across the Pacific and hit the Hilo area of the Big Island, where 61 people were killed.
Good Lord! I have been watching all night since it began, and it was said that the first wave may only be a minor one, as the next builds in height and speed! Some can easily reach upto 500 mph (800 meters per hour) More on that the 40 meter wave, it has been confirmed! Giant wave Reuters reported that a tsunami caused by the quake caused "serious damage" to Chile's sparsely populated Juan Fernández Islands. Citing local police, CNN reported that the islands had been hit by a 40-meter (131-foot) wave.
People are flocking to stores to stock up. Imagine that! The aftershocks could easily surpass the magnitude of the big Haiti quake. There are lessons to be learned. When we have a big earthquake in America, there are usually very few fatalities. This is largely due to building codes for seismic zones. In this respect, I consider the death toll in Haiti to be (largely) a man made disaster. That government is one of the most corrupt on earth, and building codes are (obviously) just about the last thing on their minds. Chile is a much more developed nation, and despite the earthquake being hundreds of times more severe, I'd be surprised if there were even 1000 fatalities.
If this is going to be a trend and lend credence to the Mayan end of days, then I can only surmise that these events will continue with increasing pace in exponential fashion. However, if this is just another earthquake brought on by natural origins and without intervention, I have little doubt that the global order will attempt to capitalize. Either way, this event does not bode well for the survivors. Even a 10 foot tsunami wave, if it is long enough, can cause significant coast line damage and erosion, especially to an island. The one thing that Hawaii has going for it, is the fact that much of it is still in an active volcanic state. This means that the freshly hardened magma and glass will buffer some of the effects, as it has not had centuries to erode and crumble.
I have friends in New Zealand and unable to reach them...More than likely their phones are very busy! I saw several photos and a live feed of people trying to get into stores to get supplies...This is what I intend to avoid. Always too little and too late. I am appreciative of the fact that there have been a low number of casualties already as opposed to Haiti! These people knew how to rebuild since 1960! Lessons learned the hard way. At this time I think the world is holding it's breath to see what happens next, and how Tsunami's continue to affect the rest. Another concern is that, "IF" this could trigger a response from the "ring of fire" in the Pacific.....heavy stuff.
Here are some photos and information that are not being shown by the media in Chile: http://cryptome.org/info/chile-quake/chile-quake-01.htm It looks pretty bad over there.
Last estimate I saw had the death toll in Chile topping 800. A lot of the village buildings were old clay brick - no modern building codes there.... As to Haiti - building codes don't work for rusty tin-roofed shanties...... Look at the island on Google Maps - Port-au-Prince is virtually nothing but tin shacks! Do we have support ships going to Chile? We should have some East Coast ships close enough to lend a hand.