Tsunami Warning

Big quake in Vanuatu- trying to get news. If you are on the beach you night want to seek upper ground. Will see what I can find out.

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

VANUATU / SOLOMON IS. / NAURU / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / TUVALU /
NEW CALEDONIA / FIJI / KIRIBATI / KOSRAE / WALLIS-FUTUNA /
HOWLAND-BAKER

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR

MARSHALL IS. / TOKELAU / KERMADEC IS / POHNPEI / NEW ZEALAND /
SAMOA / AMERICAN SAMOA / TONGA / AUSTRALIA / NIUE /
COOK ISLANDS / CHUUK / INDONESIA / WAKE IS. / JARVIS IS. /
PALMYRA IS. / GUAM / N. MARIANAS / JOHNSTON IS. / YAP /
MARCUS IS. / BELAU

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 2203Z 07 OCT 2009
COORDINATES - 13.0 SOUTH 166.3 EAST
DEPTH - 33 KM
LOCATION - VANUATU ISLANDS
MAGNITUDE - 8.0

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/three-earthquakes-near-vanuatu-pacific-islands-20091008-gns4.html

Cancelled! YEA! I am begining to feel like chicken little. The sky is falling The sky is falling

The risks are real, warnings ought to be heeded.

There has certainly been a lot of strong seismic activity over the past couple of weeks, from Sumatra to Samoa .. that's a lot of territory. I wonder if this is a matter of coincidence or whether the events are linked through some common, deeper, tectonic event.

There appear to have been 18 quakes above 5.0 in the region between northern vanuatu and Santa Cruz in Solomon Islands in the last 12 hours. (USGS website).
Largest tsunami recorded was 4cm, though, due to depth and type of quakes.
They were evacuating hotels in Samoa and Fiji, in case, according to Australian TV news.

Just on the late news. Of course, all the Vanuatu footage was of Port Vila, a long way from where the quakes hit.

I agree that there have been a LOT of quakes very recently (we obviously are looking at the same website set in the same way!) I heard a discussion about how they were related, and some are but there are some which are quite separate events. It is at moments like this I wish I were into developng conspiracies- I'm sure it would be possible to come up with a doozy. (Perhaps a warning from the gods that be to Survivor? Stay out of these islands? Ok Ok lame.) Nevertheless, it has been a more active period than I remember, and I've been following that website for quite some time. Hope it quiets down- some of these are getting to the range of really big time quakes. And all it takes is one tsunami to put people on edge- I'd certainly head to the hills every time there was a big quake until I was assured that all was safe.

There is concern about the grumbling volcano in northern Vanuatu here
I have not yet found any reference to Tinakula in Solomon Islands, near Santa Cruz.

Edited by: Vulcan

Santa Cruz has figured prominantly in the quake lists over the past few days. Could it be listed that way?

They haven't mentioned volcanic activity in Solomon Islands, only quakes, and I have been checking all their news sites.

ah- misunderstood. Wonder if there isn't a site like the Alaska volcano site for volcanic activity? Or perhaps a world wide one.

Ugh, lost my reply. Often have this problem Sunday nights. I'm typing while watching a doco on a Samoan writer and film-maker.
I did an extensive Google search on Volcanic activity - even the USGS only reports information on Gaua in Vanuatu that they sourced from Radio Australia, which was my source.
Nothing current on Tinakula.
However, even Google Earth is a bit inaccurate about this part of the world. They put Santa Cruz Airport on Vanikoro - it is only when you zoom in close to Graciosa Bay that you can actually see the real airstrip.
I felt the ash from Tinakula in 1999, while visiting Luasalemba Secondary School on Santa Cruz, and sailed (or more accurately, zoomed in an outboard-powered rayboat) past it on my way to and from the Reef Islands in 2004.