BS: Tsunami in the Pacific

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: Alice
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 08:20 PM

From Scientific American

"A powerful earthquake beneath the Pacific triggers a tsunami that devastates Samoa and American Samoa. Another powerful temblor strikes off the coast of Sumatra. But is there a connection beyond the fact that both sit on the geologically active Ring of Fire that encircles the Pacific Ocean?
According to new research published in Nature this week: yes. "... the rest of the article CLICK HERE

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: Penny S.
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 07:17 PM

Latest scientist I heard was saying that the Sumatra quake was related to the Boxing Day one and others which have followed it. He also said that the Samoa quake could have triggered it, based on recent work, but that it would have happened in a few days or so, anyway.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: Little Robyn
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 02:53 PM

A report on telly last night had an 'expert' who said they were not related.
BUT we are living on a 'ring of fire' so everyone is waiting to see what will happen next.
There are lots of horrific stories from survivors - a grandmother who had a baby torn from her arms and a man whose wife was dragged from his arms by the force of the water. Neither survived.
Other people who have lost whole families - 10, 12, 15 and more, all gone.
Another report of a young girl from NZ who had been preoccupied with tsunamis for a long time and kept asking "When will the tsunami come?" When it did come she ran the length of the beach screaming which alerted all the people (tourists) who were then able to rush to higher ground and were saved.
Here in NZ it is school holiday time so there were probably more Kiwi tourists over in the islands than there would have been last week.
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 01:39 PM

Everything I have heard says they are unrelated.

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 01:28 PM

Has anyone related the two earthquakes in Pacific to each other? I have not seen any comments ..mg

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: beardedbruce
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 07:51 AM

oops...

Death toll is now reported as 149. More expected.

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: beardedbruce
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 07:51 AM

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: Little Robyn
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 07:11 AM

And my co-workers are from the other side of the island and all their family members are OK.
By the time the tsunami actually arrived down under, the wave was only half a metre high, though initial reports said a two metre wave was on its way.
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: GUEST,moira(flyingcat)
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 05:52 AM

Had word to say my nephew and his partner are OK, thanks God.   My heart goes out to those who've lost loved ones or are still waiting to hear.

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: GUEST,moira(flyingcat)
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 12:11 PM

My nephew and his partner Cerys are in Tonga working, haven't heard anything yet and hoping they are OK

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: artbrooks
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 08:45 AM

Reports say that 65 people died in Samoa, 24 on American Samoa and 6 on Tonga.    From the New York Times:

Filipo Ilaoa, deputy director of the American Samoan office in Honolulu, said that the tsunami struck the territory's coast in "a matter of minutes" after the quake, and that many residents would not have had much time to run for higher ground.

"American Samoa is a small island, and most of the residents are around the coastline," he said. "There was no warning or anything at all. By the time the alert was out of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, it had already hit."

On Samoa, by Wednesday afternoon, 65 people had died and 145 had been injured, according to the general manager of the National Health Service, who spoke to the BBC.

There were reports late Wednesday that six people had been killed on Tonga, but those reports could not be immediately verified.

Officials and rescue teams worked throughout Wednesday to assess the damage and to begin relief efforts, and they said heavy destruction was being seen in the southern parts of Samoa and American Samoa, a United States territory with about 60,000 residents.

Samoa, governed by New Zealand until gaining its independence in 1962, has a population of 180,00 spread across its islands. Upolu, the second-largest of the islands, has numerous resorts and guesthouses along its southern shores, and initial reports from the coast described widespread destruction.

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 08:44 AM

Samoa, American Samoa and Pago Pago report devastation and deaths with many swept out to sea and missing. It will be days for a complete picture emerges.

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: Rasener
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 08:39 AM

Not good news at all. I hope your co-workers are safe and hope you remain safe Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: Jack Campin
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 08:22 AM

Presumably the places most at risk are the atolls - any reports yet on how they've fared?

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 08:03 AM

Oh wow. Stay safe Robyn.

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: beardedbruce
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 07:58 AM

opps. looks like it was an 8.0!!!




http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009mdbi.php


"The following table lists the approximate energy equivalents in terms of TNT explosive force[7] - though note that the energy here is that of the underground energy release (ie a small atomic bomb blast will not simply cause light shaking of indoor items) rather than the overground energy release; the majority of energy transmission of an earthquake is not transmitted to and through the surface, but is instead dissipated into the crust and other subsurface structures.

7.0 32 megatons 134.4 PJ Java earthquake (Indonesia), 2009

7.1 50 megatons 210 PJ Energy released is equivalent to that of Tsar Bomba, the largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested.

7.5 178 megatons 747.6 PJ Kashmir earthquake (Pakistan), 2005
Antofagasta earthquake (Chile), 2007

7.8 600 megatons 2.4 EJ Tangshan earthquake (China), 1976

8.0 1 gigaton 4.2 EJ Toba eruption 75,000 years ago; which, according to the Toba catastrophe theory, affected modern human evolution
San Francisco earthquake (CA, USA), 1906
Queen Charlotte earthquake (BC, Canada), 1949
México City earthquake (Mexico), 1985
Gujarat earthquake (India), 2001
Chincha Alta earthquake (Peru), 2007
Sichuan earthquake (China), 2008 (initial estimate: 7.8)

8.5 5.6 gigatons 23.5 EJ Sumatra earthquake (Indonesia), 2007


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_scale

Subject: RE: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: beardedbruce
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 07:50 AM

Two earthquakes so far - 7.9 south of Samoa, 7.6 west of Indonesia.

( 6am news report)

Subject: BS: Tsunami in the Pacific
From: Little Robyn
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 07:41 AM

An earthquake happened early in the morning and as a result the sea was churned up and threatening.
Details here

Here in Hawke's Bay, NZ, we were evacuated to the hills for a couple of hours, just in case.
Several of my co-workers come from Samoa so there is concern for their families.
Tonga was hit as well but there could be more damage on some of the smaller islands, especially the outlying ones.
Robyn