Tsunami Warning

A massive 8.4 magnitude earthquake near Japan has prompted a tsunami warning for the entire west coast of the US, and almost the entire North Pacific coastal region. If you live along the coast, take note.

yes- you're right - we've had 3 Emergency Warning broadcasts, the last just a few minutes ago. It's pretty worrisome as the damage from the 1964 quake in nearby Anchorage, was major, and on down the coast to the Lower 48.
kiska
alaska

Wow, I hadn't heard about this. Gonna go turn on the news.

http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/
If this works, click on the numbers highlighted in blue, in the first panel, to read the full warning.
kiska

Our news said the warning is mostly for Alaska....it's just an advisory for WA, OR, and CA. Hope you guys are all ok up there. Not sure where Palmer is...gonna go look it up.

mgh, Palmer is just a bit north-east of Anchorage, about 45 miles...We are one hour behind your time there in Oregon; hopefully all will be okay...
The West Coast Tsunami Warning Center, is located here in Palmer.
Kiska

This message was edited Jan 12, 2007 10:55 PM

if a Tsunami does make it to the west coast ?
it will be magnified in our harbor here in Crescent City
it seems the underwater topography of the bay amplifies the swell by 5 fold
the Nov 8.1 earthquake in Japan did quite a bit of damage here
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/11/16/MNGMFME0DS1.DTL
and the 1964 damage made history books

Dick

Strever - yes, I recall the damage there; hopefully any wave will die out before doing any damage..
Here, in the 1964 quake, Valdez was totally destroyed and the town has been rebuilt further from the coast. Powerful forces...
now at 11pm, the warning has just now been cancelled - strong waves/currents only - whew....
kiska

This message was edited Jan 12, 2007 11:03 PM

Very good to see that, Kiska! Glad you all are ok!

Our cable TV was interrupted last night with the tsunami warning. My husband and I went to our respective computers to get online and get more info. Within a few minutes, I had maps of the area, its proximity to the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, and the spot on the Aleutian Chain that would be the first hit if a tsunami occurred. Our new world of imformation is amazing, and it is comforting to know that the early warning system works here in Alaska.

Ironically, I can find nothing about the earthquake on the news channels this morning. The news is locked in on the two boys recovered from the kidnapper in Missouri, and even the MSN homepage on the web has a story about Pandas, but not the quake. If it had been in a heavily populated area or a tsunami took lives, we'd hear something about it. I am always amazed when we have a quake in the US and they refer to previous quakes, but seldom mention our Good Friday earthquake in 1964. I believe that was a 9.6. It caused devistating damage. In our little town of Seward, oil spill into the bay and caught fire. Whole sections of beach front fell into the sea. Anchorage fared no better. Cordova was so badly damaged that they moved the whole town. Of the 131 recorded deaths, 119 died from the ensuing tsunamis. Yet, this quake is often overlooked when comparing quakes on US soil. I think we measure the severity of any disaster by loss of human life, and we just don't have the population up here to be newsworthy. The same is probably true of this Russian quake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday_Earthquake
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Good%20Friday%20earthquake&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

How true,Weezingreens - -
kiska

Whew, I just stumbled onto this thread. I have family in Vancouver, California and Washington. Good to know the early warning system works, sort of. If your sitting there watching television. I wonder what would they have done if it hadn't been downgraded to heavy swells and waves? Still hope all is well for Strever in Crescent City. Thanks for the heads up. This is very important news.

Just found this on the web, for those who are still interested:

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=69742007

thanks siskiyou. For those who don't recall, the last sentence of the article sums up the reason for so much concern.

A 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on December 26, 2004, caused a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in 11 countries.

Being a native Californian and very interested in earthquakes I keep http://www.usgs.gov/ on my favorites list. Most recent earthquakes.........

Much quieter tonight, thank goodness. Looks as there are some interesting links to go check out. I also have the Palmer Tsunami Warning Center on favorites as well as the Wunderground site that lists local earthquakes.
Kiska