A massive shaker just struck off the coast of New Zealand. There are no tsunami warnings issued for our coast at the moment, but we will keep you posted (of course).
UPDATE, 1 p.m.: Mike Dronkers and I spoke with Nancy Dean of the National Weather Service about the earthquake and subsequent (localized) tsunami a few moments ago:
Initial alert from the Pacific Tsunami Center follows:
TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1912Z 06 JUL 2011
THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS…EXCEPT ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA…
WASHINGTON…OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
… A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT …
A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR
KERMADEC IS / TONGA / NEW ZEALAND
FOR ALL OTHER AREAS COVERED BY THIS BULLETIN… IT IS FOR
INFORMATION ONLY AT THIS TIME.
THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME - 1903Z 06 JUL 2011
COORDINATES - 29.4 SOUTH 175.7 WEST
DEPTH - 48 KM
LOCATION - KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.8
EVALUATION
IT IS NOT KNOWN THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. THIS WARNING IS
BASED ONLY ON THE EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION. AN EARTHQUAKE OF THIS
SIZE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THAT CAN
STRIKE COASTLINES IN THE REGION NEAR THE EPICENTER WITHIN MINUTES
TO HOURS. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE
ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL MONITOR
SEA LEVEL GAUGES NEAREST THE REGION AND REPORT IF ANY TSUNAMI
WAVE ACTIVITY IS OBSERVED. THE WARNING WILL NOT EXPAND TO OTHER
AREAS OF THE PACIFIC UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED TO
WARRANT SUCH AN EXPANSION.
ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS
WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL
ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE
LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.
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