hammerfan
05-03-2006, 09:41 AM
I realize this is in the wrong place but wanted to post it ASAP.
Weather Service: Tsunami Could Strike New Zealand, Fiji
Advisory Issued For Hawaii
POSTED: 12:31 pm EDT May 3, 2006
UPDATED: 1:21 pm EDT May 3, 2006
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BANGKOK, Thailand -- U.S. government geologists classify it as a "great" earthquake.
A magnitude-8.0 quake has struck near the South Pacific island of Tonga. And a tsunami warning has been issued for for Fiji and New Zealand, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
A tsunami warning predicted a giant wave could hit Fiji and New Zealand within minutes.
A Tongan police officer in the capital, Nuku'alofa, said there were no immediate reports of damage or a tsunami.
The temblor, classified by the USGS as a "great" quake, struck 95 miles south of Neiafu, Tonga, and 1,340 miles north-northeast of Auckland, New Zealand. It occurred 20 miles beneath the sea floor.
The U.S. National Weather Service warned that a tsunami could strike Fiji as soon as 1:13 p.m. EDT and New Zealand by 2:21 p.m. EDT.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the tsunami warning but said it was not known whether the quake generated a potentially deadly giant wave.
A tsunami advisory was issued for Hawaii, but the warning center said the earthquake, based on historical records, was not sufficient to generate a tsunami damaging to the Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada, and Alaska. Some areas may experience small sea-level changes.
Tonga is a 170-island archipelago about halfway between Australia and Tahiti. It has a population of about 108,000 people.
On Dec. 26, 2004, the most powerful earthquake in four decades -- magnitude 9.0 -- ripped apart the Indian Ocean floor off Indonesia's Sumatra island, displacing millions of tons of water and spawning giant waves that sped off in all directions.
The tsunami left at least 216,000 people dead or missing in a dozen nations.
Fiji, a South Pacific country made up of more than 300 islands, a third of which are inhabited, is regularly rattled by earthquakes, but few cause any damage or casualties.
Weather Service: Tsunami Could Strike New Zealand, Fiji
Advisory Issued For Hawaii
POSTED: 12:31 pm EDT May 3, 2006
UPDATED: 1:21 pm EDT May 3, 2006
Email This Story | Print This Story
BANGKOK, Thailand -- U.S. government geologists classify it as a "great" earthquake.
A magnitude-8.0 quake has struck near the South Pacific island of Tonga. And a tsunami warning has been issued for for Fiji and New Zealand, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
A tsunami warning predicted a giant wave could hit Fiji and New Zealand within minutes.
A Tongan police officer in the capital, Nuku'alofa, said there were no immediate reports of damage or a tsunami.
The temblor, classified by the USGS as a "great" quake, struck 95 miles south of Neiafu, Tonga, and 1,340 miles north-northeast of Auckland, New Zealand. It occurred 20 miles beneath the sea floor.
The U.S. National Weather Service warned that a tsunami could strike Fiji as soon as 1:13 p.m. EDT and New Zealand by 2:21 p.m. EDT.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the tsunami warning but said it was not known whether the quake generated a potentially deadly giant wave.
A tsunami advisory was issued for Hawaii, but the warning center said the earthquake, based on historical records, was not sufficient to generate a tsunami damaging to the Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada, and Alaska. Some areas may experience small sea-level changes.
Tonga is a 170-island archipelago about halfway between Australia and Tahiti. It has a population of about 108,000 people.
On Dec. 26, 2004, the most powerful earthquake in four decades -- magnitude 9.0 -- ripped apart the Indian Ocean floor off Indonesia's Sumatra island, displacing millions of tons of water and spawning giant waves that sped off in all directions.
The tsunami left at least 216,000 people dead or missing in a dozen nations.
Fiji, a South Pacific country made up of more than 300 islands, a third of which are inhabited, is regularly rattled by earthquakes, but few cause any damage or casualties.