8.0 Quake

May 3, 2006 9:25 AM

Newsfilter: 8.0 Quake Hits TongaLets hope this isn't a repeat of the Indonesian disaster, because 8.0 is huge.
posted by zeoslap (57 comments total)

CNN reports tsunami warnings issued for Fiji and New Zealand.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 9:29 AM on May 3, 2006

...and a tsunami watch for Hawaii.
fingers crossed.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 9:32 AM on May 3, 2006

What do you have against Hawaii, Saucy Intruder?
posted by reklaw at 9:33 AM on May 3, 2006

Shit. My best friend is a policeman in Hawaii. and he was an NYC paramedic during 9/11.

*crosses self*
posted by jonmc at 9:34 AM on May 3, 2006

Ugh.
posted by Witty at 9:36 AM on May 3, 2006

Only 10 miles below the surface. That's not good. I was watching something on Tsunamis last night and that's shallow and likely to create a Tsunami.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:37 AM on May 3, 2006

I suppose now would be a bad time to say "Surf's up!", so of course, I would never be so incredibly stupid and insensitive.
posted by blue_beetle at 9:37 AM on May 3, 2006

...good luck everybody.
posted by Jofus at 9:40 AM on May 3, 2006

oh no, lookout for rarotonga, and especially our friends on aitutaki... a silent prayer now...
posted by joecacti at 9:42 AM on May 3, 2006

Looks like there was at least 1 8+ magnitude quake nearby at a similar depth (<35km below surface) from the historical maps.

(maybe that means things will be ok?)
posted by n9 at 9:42 AM on May 3, 2006

Here's Barbara Bush's chance to say something along the lines of, "Well, Hawaiians like to surf, so this is working very well for them."
posted by orange swan at 9:42 AM on May 3, 2006

Here are the latest tsunami bulletins for the Pacific Islands and Hawaii.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:42 AM on May 3, 2006

I only make that joke to try to get the knots in my stomach to loosen a little, but it doesn't seem to have worked.
posted by orange swan at 9:43 AM on May 3, 2006

here's hoping this turns out to be no big deal, but that if it is as disastrous as it might be, we can all get our shit together enough to deal with it in a timely fashion and worry about finger pointing later.
posted by shmegegge at 9:43 AM on May 3, 2006

also the indonesian tsunami was created by a 9.0 magnitude, right? 8 is significantly less unless I'm mistaken.
posted by n9 at 9:43 AM on May 3, 2006

the tsunami would reach the first inhabited space at 9 of this hour (9:51 mefe time.)
posted by n9 at 9:44 AM on May 3, 2006

n9: The richter scale is logarithmic with a base of 10, so an 8.0 is exactly half as powerful as a 9.0.
posted by Captain Planet's Green Mullet at 9:51 AM on May 3, 2006

Oh goody, another chance for the government to demonstrate how completely unprepared they are for a natural disaster on US shores. I can hear them sharpening their talking points now: "No one could have predicted that the 3 leaky rowboats we alloted to Hawaii would be insufficient to save the entire population of the islands!"

Stay safe, Hawaii. You're in my prayers.
posted by Biblio at 9:51 AM on May 3, 2006

NZ Earthquake Center
posted by smackfu at 9:52 AM on May 3, 2006

Not to downplay the obvious danger, but it isn't all about magnitude. Sizeable ocean-centred quakes occur without tsunami, and smaller ones occasionally do produce them, but all in all, it's a rare phenomenon. Let's not let the destructiveness of the last one skew our sense of the probabilities involved.
posted by dreamsign at 9:53 AM on May 3, 2006

The Indonesian Quake was first reported as an 8.0 too though and only later was it upgraded to a 9.
posted by zeoslap at 9:55 AM on May 3, 2006

Sorry, just to clarify, I'm talking about destructive tsunami, not their smaller harmless cousins (which can be the result of relatively high magnitude quakes).
posted by dreamsign at 9:58 AM on May 3, 2006

I'm looking for beach cameras, and have found a few in Honolulu. Any others?
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:02 AM on May 3, 2006

Oh shit. Where was it felt in NZ? Just in Auckland?
posted by gaspode at 10:04 AM on May 3, 2006

The bulletin Johnny Assay linked to says, "BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII."
posted by hyperizer at 10:06 AM on May 3, 2006

Oh goody, another chance for the government to demonstrate how completely unprepared they are for a natural disaster on US shores.

Oh goody, another chance for dorks like you to take pot shots at the administration for something that hasn't even happened yet. I bet you just can wait for the death of hundreds of Hawaiians... then you can really show off some outrage!
posted by Witty at 10:08 AM on May 3, 2006

witty, mean cynicism. thought you guys knew each other.
posted by n9 at 10:10 AM on May 3, 2006

Ehhhh.... phooey.
posted by Witty at 10:13 AM on May 3, 2006

Yeah, witty, I can't wait. That's why I closed my post with good wishes for Hawaii. That's why I said a prayer for their safety.
posted by Biblio at 10:16 AM on May 3, 2006

As of this hour, TV New Zealand has nothing on their front page or Breaking News section. It's early morning there - any news from our MeFi Kiwis?
posted by hangashore at 10:23 AM on May 3, 2006

That's why I said a prayer for their safety.

And if somehow, not everyone is "saved", it is sure to be Georgy's fault right? Right.
posted by Witty at 10:30 AM on May 3, 2006

let's hope everybody dies so Witty will be right.
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 10:31 AM on May 3, 2006

New Zealand has been taken off the danger list, according to BBC News 24.
posted by tapeguy at 10:35 AM on May 3, 2006

Now the top story on the New Zealand Herald website.
posted by hangashore at 10:37 AM on May 3, 2006

New Zealand has been taken off the danger list

Good to hear. Fingers crossed for the Pacific islands.
posted by hangashore at 10:38 AM on May 3, 2006

Why witty, you've nailed my theology completely! That's precisely what the Book of Common Prayer says.
posted by Biblio at 10:44 AM on May 3, 2006

The tsunami has been cancelled due to lack of interest.
posted by redteam at 10:52 AM on May 3, 2006

Never mind, folks. You can go back to whatever you were doing when this potential disaster started to "unfold" as they say in the news biz. (In the academic world, they say "unpack." In the sailing world they say "unfurl." In the metaworld they just say "uhnn.")
posted by kozad at 10:53 AM on May 3, 2006

... TSUNAMI WARNING CANCELLATION ...
posted by y6y6y6 at 10:54 AM on May 3, 2006

n9: The richter scale is logarithmic with a base of 10, so an 8.0 is exactly half as powerful as a 9.0.
posted by Captain Planet's Green Mullet at 11:51 AM CST on May 3


Actually it's 1/10 as powerful... (base 10, not base 2).
posted by thefreek at 10:55 AM on May 3, 2006

And actually the Richter Scale isn't used a heck of a lot anymore, especially for larger earthquakes. The Moment Magnitude scale is used nowadays.
posted by Plutor at 11:12 AM on May 3, 2006

Just some links for you all for now or the future...

NOAA Tsunami Page
And linked from there, is the map regarding time to impact map - Tsunami Travel Time Map (Experimental)
posted by pwb503 at 11:14 AM on May 3, 2006

More important than magnitude is vertical movement of the seabed. The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami was so horrible because a wide fault moved greatly -- in particular, the seabed at the fault rose several meters. That was the piston that put the energy into the tsunami. In particular, this was a jackpot earthquake -- very strong (2nd strongest ever recorded), long duration (almost 400 seconds), very long (1200km of faultline moved, a megathrust earthquake) and huge vertical movement (several meters.) Combined, they put enough energy into the ocean to displace several cubic miles of ocean.

A large undersea quake with little vertical movement results in little-to-no energy transfer to the ocean. However, right now, the only remote sense we have for undersea earthquakes is total magnitude and position -- and both of those data points are very rough until several stations can coordinate results. So, anytime you get a large undersea quake, you have to assume that there was large vertical movement until proven otherwise -- and, right now, that proof won't happen until well after the tsunami would have struck. Indeed, the only warning confirmation we have right now is an island closer to the epicenter getting hit by a tsunami.
posted by eriko at 11:15 AM on May 3, 2006

... TSUNAMI WARNING CANCELLATION ...

SPOILER WARNING!
posted by BobFrapples at 11:31 AM on May 3, 2006

I've been through this 7.1 quake, this 7.3 quake and they were both among the top 10 terrifying events in my life. Something you don't realize until you've been through a big one is how loud they are and the shaking just seems to go on forever. I can't imagine what an 8 would be like.
posted by buggzzee23 at 12:00 PM on May 3, 2006

Good explanation, eriko, I wonder if it's feasible to get better remote ocean earthquake data, or if it's only lacking adequate funding because Witty doesn't care.

I keed.. I keed... I know "Witty" is your real last name, and I know growing up with it as your last name can be enough to severely cripple your sense of humor - I'm a "Wittler", also known to the sixth grade as "Witless" - but can all of us MeFites take up a collection to get the money for you to legally change it to "Grumpy"?
posted by wendell at 12:36 PM on May 3, 2006

My mom elected to call me from the states at five in the morning to warn me "Dont go near the beach today!" I guess not realizing that getting the five in the morning call is much scarier than a tsunami that has like no way of hitting where I am.
posted by supercrayon at 1:14 PM on May 3, 2006

Something you don't realize until you've been through a big one is how loud they are

Crazy isn't it. It's like a frieght train is suddenly going by. And people get quieter when they're taken by surprize like that... everybody just kind of stares at eachother for a second. You never forget that sensation.
posted by tkchrist at 1:28 PM on May 3, 2006

Living in San Francisco, I was worried an earthquake might have hit the Tonga Room.

I'm a "Wittler"
So your mom is Wittler's mother?
posted by kirkaracha at 1:40 PM on May 3, 2006

kirkaracha, yo momma inspires bad FPPs.

And the 6th grade "Witless" taunts were tame compared to the 2nd grade "Hitler" barrage. Yes, I was personally Godwinned at the age of seven. I was born for MetaFilter.

And I said 'taunt' not 'taint'. (And I wrote about my mother's death in the "Saddest Things" thread... is everything on the front page today tied together in some creepy way? If so, does Esao Morales eat babies?)
posted by wendell at 1:52 PM on May 3, 2006

"
I've been through this 7.1 quake, this 7.3 quake and they were both among the top 10 terrifying events in my life. "


Imagine how much more terrifying they'd be if you were sitting on the ocean floor when they happened.
posted by lalochezia at 1:57 PM on May 3, 2006

Hello, Tsunami Warning Center? I thought you said the surf was up? Damnit, it's flat! You're all worthless government hacks, y'know that? *puts away longboard*
posted by loquacious at 2:40 PM on May 3, 2006

My girlfriend is currently in Samoa. I am concerned. Anyone know how I find out about if/how the quake struck Samoa, and what the damage might be?
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:53 PM on May 3, 2006

Dr. Wu - here's a radio station in American Samoa and a news site in Western Samoa. The top news story on the latter is the cancelling of the tsunami warning (with no reports of a tsunami even hitting Tonga). Top story on the former is the Moussaoui sentencing, followed by the death of the father of Tiger Woods. I hope this means that Samoa suffered no ill effects.
posted by hangashore at 3:34 PM on May 3, 2006

Thank you, hangashore. I appreciate it very much.
posted by Dr. Wu at 3:40 PM on May 3, 2006

Cheers, Dr. Wu. In further news, the New Zealand herald reports:

A small tsunami of less than half a metre was observed at Niue (east of Tonga) and at Pago Pago in American Samoa (north of Tonga).

Meanwhile, closer to the epicentre:

People ran into the streets of Tongan capital Nuku'alofa as buildings shook during the quake which lasted about four minutes, a police officer told Radio New Zealand.

New Zealand jazz musician Richard Adams was in a hotel in Nuku'Alofa when the quake struck.

"It was the biggest earthquake I've ever felt," Mr Adams told CNN. "Things were falling over, my bag was falling over it went on for at least ... well, it felt like five minutes, but I guess it was probably a minute."

Power to the hotel - the Pacific Royale - was cut, and it was littered with broken glass and plates, and pot plants were toppled.

In panic, one guest jumped from third floor balcony into the hotel court yard.

"He was the only tourist injured. He jumped from his room, maybe he was afraid," said William Vea, the night receptionist at the hotel.

posted by hangashore at 3:57 PM on May 3, 2006

And as I unzippered my fly I said to Mr. Richards: "Well Keith, this just doesn't seem to be your week now does it?"
posted by hal9k at 6:43 PM on May 3, 2006