Tsunami

The PTWC is currently under heavy demand, and it is best to put their link into your feedreader, and keep abreast of developments that way. Waves of 5 feet in height have washed ashore in nearby islands at intervals of 8 minutes (which can be up to 1 hours apart). Over the next 5 to 6 hours, waves are expected to propagate across the Pacific. Warnings and watches remain in force until further notice.

LOCATION         FORECAST POINT     COORDINATES     ARRIVAL TIME
 --------------------------------    ------------    ------------
 AMERICAN SAMOA   PAGO PAGO          14.3S 170.7W    1759Z 29 SEP
 SAMOA            APIA               13.8S 171.8W    1810Z 29 SEP
 NIUE             NIUE IS.           19.0S 170.0W    1822Z 29 SEP
 WALLIS-FUTUNA    WALLIS IS.         13.2S 176.2W    1835Z 29 SEP
 TOKELAU          NUKUNONU IS.        9.2S 171.8W    1844Z 29 SEP
 COOK ISLANDS     PUKAPUKA IS.       10.8S 165.9W    1846Z 29 SEP
                  RAROTONGA          21.2S 159.8W    1929Z 29 SEP
                  PENRYN IS.          8.9S 157.8W    1954Z 29 SEP
 TONGA            NUKUALOFA          21.0S 175.2W    1851Z 29 SEP
 TUVALU           FUNAFUTI IS.        7.9S 178.5E    1932Z 29 SEP
 KIRIBATI         KANTON IS.          2.8S 171.7W    1935Z 29 SEP
                  FLINT IS.          11.4S 151.8W    2025Z 29 SEP
                  MALDEN IS.          3.9S 154.9W    2037Z 29 SEP
                  CHRISTMAS IS.       2.0N 157.5W    2100Z 29 SEP
                  TARAWA IS.          1.5N 173.0E    2104Z 29 SEP
 KERMADEC IS      RAOUL IS.          29.2S 177.9W    1938Z 29 SEP
 FIJI             SUVA               18.1S 178.4E    2003Z 29 SEP
 HOWLAND-BAKER    HOWLAND IS.         0.6N 176.6W    2008Z 29 SEP
 JARVIS IS.       JARVIS IS.          0.4S 160.1W    2028Z 29 SEP
 NEW ZEALAND      EAST CAPE          37.7S 178.5E    2044Z 29 SEP
                  GISBORNE           38.7S 178.0E    2100Z 29 SEP
                  NORTH CAPE         34.4S 173.3E    2112Z 29 SEP
                  NAPIER             39.5S 176.9E    2140Z 29 SEP
                  WELLINGTON         41.3S 174.8E    2150Z 29 SEP
                  AUCKLAND(E)        36.7S 175.0E    2212Z 29 SEP
                  AUCKLAND(W)        37.1S 174.2E    2239Z 29 SEP
                  LYTTELTON          43.6S 172.7E    2255Z 29 SEP
                  NEW PLYMOUTH       39.1S 174.1E    2317Z 29 SEP
                  NELSON             41.3S 173.3E    2323Z 29 SEP
                  DUNEDIN            45.9S 170.5E    2331Z 29 SEP
                  MILFORD SOUND      44.6S 167.9E    2358Z 29 SEP
                  WESTPORT           41.8S 171.6E    2359Z 29 SEP
                  BLUFF              46.6S 168.3E    0044Z 30 SEP
 FR. POLYNESIA    PAPEETE            17.5S 149.6W    2045Z 29 SEP
                  HIVA OA            10.0S 139.0W    2214Z 29 SEP
                  RIKITEA            23.1S 135.0W    2247Z 29 SEP
 PALMYRA IS.      PALMYRA IS.         6.3N 162.4W    2102Z 29 SEP
 VANUATU          ANATOM IS.         20.2S 169.9E    2117Z 29 SEP
                  ESPERITU SANTO     15.1S 167.3E    2123Z 29 SEP
 NAURU            NAURU               0.5S 166.9E    2138Z 29 SEP
 MARSHALL IS.     MAJURO              7.1N 171.4E    2147Z 29 SEP
                  KWAJALEIN           8.7N 167.7E    2220Z 29 SEP
                  ENIWETOK           11.4N 162.3E    2309Z 29 SEP
 SOLOMON IS.      KIRAKIRA           10.4S 161.9E    2155Z 29 SEP
                  GHATERE             7.8S 159.2E    2227Z 29 SEP
                  AUKI                8.8S 160.6E    2244Z 29 SEP
                  HONIARA             9.3S 160.0E    2244Z 29 SEP
                  PANGGOE             6.9S 157.2E    2245Z 29 SEP
                  MUNDA               8.4S 157.2E    2248Z 29 SEP
                  FALAMAE             7.4S 155.6E    2304Z 29 SEP
 JOHNSTON IS.     JOHNSTON IS.       16.7N 169.5W    2212Z 29 SEP
 NEW CALEDONIA    NOUMEA             22.3S 166.5E    2216Z 29 SEP
 KOSRAE           KOSRAE IS.          5.5N 163.0E    2233Z 29 SEP
 PAPUA NEW GUINE  KIETA               6.1S 155.6E    2303Z 29 SEP
                  AMUN                6.0S 154.7E    2323Z 29 SEP
                  RABAUL              4.2S 152.3E    2349Z 29 SEP
                  LAE                 6.8S 147.0E    0015Z 30 SEP
                  KAVIENG             2.5S 150.7E    0016Z 30 SEP
                  PORT MORESBY        9.3S 146.9E    0039Z 30 SEP
                  MADANG              5.2S 145.8E    0041Z 30 SEP
                  MANUS IS.           2.0S 147.5E    0050Z 30 SEP
 HAWAII           NAWILIWILI         22.0N 159.4W    2311Z 29 SEP
                  HILO               19.7N 155.1W    2314Z 29 SEP
                  HONOLULU           21.3N 157.9W    2315Z 29 SEP
 POHNPEI          POHNPEI IS.         7.0N 158.2E    2318Z 29 SEP
 WAKE IS.         WAKE IS.           19.3N 166.6E    2322Z 29 SEP
 PITCAIRN         PITCAIRN IS.       25.1S 130.1W    2329Z 29 SEP
 MIDWAY IS.       MIDWAY IS.         28.2N 177.4W    2349Z 29 SEP
 CHUUK            CHUUK IS.           7.4N 151.8E    0020Z 30 SEP
 AUSTRALIA        BRISBANE           27.2S 153.3E    0036Z 30 SEP
                  SYDNEY             33.9S 151.4E    0038Z 30 SEP

Pacific Tsunami

Copied from PTWC:

A TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH ARE IN EFFECT ...

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA / NIUE / WALLIS-FUTUNA / TOKELAU /
COOK ISLANDS / TONGA / TUVALU / KIRIBATI / KERMADEC IS / FIJI /
HOWLAND-BAKER / JARVIS IS. / NEW ZEALAND / FR. POLYNESIA /
PALMYRA IS. / VANUATU / NAURU / MARSHALL IS. / SOLOMON IS.

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR

JOHNSTON IS. / NEW CALEDONIA / KOSRAE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA /
HAWAII / POHNPEI / WAKE IS. / PITCAIRN / MIDWAY IS. / CHUUK /
AUSTRALIA

FOR ALL OTHER AREAS COVERED BY THIS BULLETIN... IT IS FOR
INFORMATION ONLY AT THIS TIME.

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
NOTE THE MAGNITUDE UPGRADE TO 8.3

ORIGIN TIME - 1748Z 29 SEP 2009
COORDINATES - 15.3 SOUTH 171.0 WEST
DEPTH - 33 KM
LOCATION - SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 8.3

From the archives: Tuesday 28 September 2004

Houton Ferry Terminal, Orkney Mainland


The weather has quietened down since Sunday's gale, and there is now only a gentle greeze. I go into town to hire a pushbike. At 11, I paddle down the Old Scapa Road after a preliminary circuit of the town centre. This took me down Junction Road to the Orkney Ferries terminal, then along all sorts of back roads to the cathedral. At 11.10, I'm heading southwest along the A964 towards Orphir. It's a nice, sunny day and make good progress. Consider a shortcut at Kirbister to Finstown, but don't like the prospect of hills. Have an interchange with a tourist bus, all along the road to Scapa Garage. On arrival at Houton Terminal, it's 12.30. It's a steep descent from the main road. Nice view across to Hoy. There are two piers here, one of which is the terminal for the ferry to Lyness, Hoy. Watch the world go by behind the ferry office, then head off when the ferry comes in. By that time, I've finished lunch. Back up the hill to the main road, then left towards Brig o'Waithe. The view opens out to Graemsay and Stromness, but it's a long, long way to the A965, particularly with a headwind. Backside gets sorer and sorer as I go along, but ** finally ** I gain the main road.Turn right and am now running the gauntlet of all the traffic. Pass the sideroad to the monuments, then stop off at a petrol station to buy an icecream and a coke. As I progress further east, the weather decides it's warm enough for a shower. So, at the corner of the A986, I hide in the busshelter to don my waterproofs. Reach Finstown without further mishap. Here I decide to go to Kirkwall along the Old Finstown Road, if only to avoid the traffic. Well, I'm not very good at hills and there is a lot of traffic on this road as well. Decide on a break a little way west of Smerquoy Farm, but sitting in the verge of the road isn't that nice either. Get overtaken by a full schoolbus, and finally sail into Kirkwall at 5pm. Blimey, wasn't I knackered. Return the bike to the shop on Tankerness Lane, drop into the Internet Café across the road. This is part of an IT training enterprise, which also serves coffee and snacks. Return to the hostel after shopping at Safeways.

Ketsana

As I reported in my previous post, this typhoon has now made landfall in Vietnam. Initial local reports state that at least 23 people have been killed by the storm, with 170,000 evacuated. Windspeeds reached 90 mph.

Image courtesy NPR / AP

The storm surge, which accompanies tropical cyclones, has swept 1 km inland at Hoi An, threatening hotels and other buildings at the resort. 

Tuesday 29 September

Well, we have the sun back. In abundance. Brilliant day, after several days of rain and murk. I don't really mind the rain and / or wind, but several days in the row gets a bit depressing.

There is an alert concerning the cervical cancer vaccination Cervarix. A girl of 14 died on Monday after the jab was administered, and tests are currently on-going in the exact cause of death. Meanwhile, parents are being urged to be vigilant towards any adverse reactions, displayed by their daughters following administration of Cervarix. The programme of vaccinations is currently suspended, but will resume shortly. If this concerns any of your family (in the UK, or elsewhere), please read this BBC news article carefully.

The Pacific currently has 4 tropical cyclones on the go. Typhoon Ketsana, which wrought havoc in the Philippines over the weekend, is making landfall in Vietnam, 110 miles southeast of Hue, with winds of 110 mph. The city of Da Nang, some 80 miles from Hue, reported sustained winds of 48 mph over the past 24 hours. Tropical storm 18W is going through the northern Marianas with galeforce winds. Parma is on its way, about 400 miles in its wake, with 20W some 850 miles east of Guam.