| Monday, January 15, 2007 |
| Tsunami hits Japan; many other regions under watch |
A small-sized tsunami hit northern and eastern Japan on Saturday after a powerful earthquake in the north Pacific Ocean prompted tsunami warnings across northern and eastern Japan and Russia as well as Alaska.
Tsunami watches were also issued for parts of the Pacific, a region that is nervous about tsunami two years after a deadly wave off Aceh in Indonesia killed over 230,000 people. The watches included Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Hawaii.
Small waves were reported at Chichijima in the Ogasawara islands, some 1,200 km south of Tokyo, and several smaller waves on Hokkaido and northern Japan, but there were no reports of injuries and no immediate reports of damage.
A tsunami warning had been issued earlier for northern Japan, Russia and a wide area of Japan’s Pacific coast on Saturday after an earthquake with a preliminary 8.3-magnitude rocked the northern Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said tsunami watch was in effect for a wide area of the Pacific, including Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Hawaii.
The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.9 on the Richter Scale, a major tremor. The epicentre was 525 km (325 miles) east-northeast of Kuril’sk, Kurile islands, and 1,710 km (1,065 miles) north-east of Tokyo.
Officials in Hokkaido urged residents to move to higher ground. There was only moderate shaking in Hokkaido and no immediate reports of injury on account of the quake.
A tsunami – the Japanese term for ‘harbour wave – travels at dizzying speeds in the open ocean. When it approaches shallow waters along a coast, it slows and swells. In an inlet, it can rise to towering heights very quickly.
In 1993, a tsunami caused by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake led to the death of about 200 people on the island of Okushiri, off Hokkaido's south-western coast.
Alaska, one of the states of the United States of America, was under a tsunami warning on Saturday after the 8.3- magnitude earthquake rocked the northern Pacific Ocean.
United States authorities said a tsunami warning issued for Hawaii was later cancelled.
The warning on Alaska was in effect from Sand Point on the south-western Alaskan Peninsula, across the Aleutian Islands, a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) chain, mostly uninhabited.
The US Coast Guard in Alaska said there had been no evacuations and that a small tsunami was reported at Shemya Island, 1,500 miles (2,400 km) south-west of Anchorage.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami watch on Friday night for a wide area of the Pacific, including Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Hawaii. The watch for Hawaii was lifted after many hours.
Stuart Weinstein, assistant director of the Center, said earlier from Honolulu that “I do not expect an ocean-crossing tsunami with destructive power.”
A tsunami warning means that all coastal residents in the warning area, who are near the beach or in low-lying regions, should move immediately inland to higher ground and away from all harbours and inlets including those sheltered directly from the sea. Those feeling the earth shake, seeing unusual wave action, or the water level rising or receding may have only a few minutes before the arrival of the tsunami and should evacuate immediately.
Since homes and small buildings are not designed to withstand the tsunami impact, it is not safe to stay in these structures.
All residents within the warned area have to be alert for instructions broadcast from their local civil authorities.
A tsunami watch requires all coastal residents in the watch area to prepare for possible evacuation. A tsunami watch is issued to areas which will not be impacted by the tsunami for at least three hours. Watch areas will either be upgraded to warning status or cancelled.
It was at 8:24 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on January 12 that an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude 8.2 took place east of the Kuril Islands, Russia.Labels: Society |
| posted by a correspondent @ 9:40 PM |
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