7.7 Earthquake off BC! Tsunami Warning

[KDH]

The coast guard has ordered the evacuation of Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii about 2 hours ago. I was not able to access the link from my Kindle but I assume it is related to the tsunami warning that was issued this morning and reported by the CBC. Glad to hear everyone in BC ok.

[deckofficer]

Good to hear Astrid. I was worried about you.

[Captain Jeffry]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

I'm pleasantly surprised that such a big quake did such minor damage.

Umm, it's Canada! Everything in Canada is calmer, gentler, kinder and peaceable... and some say, sweeter...

[S/V Alchemy]

You haven't closed out a bar in Sudbury on a Saturday night, I see.

Thanks for the kind words, regardless.

[Capt Phil]

Good to hear all is well, Astrid. VHF reception and transmit is notoriously crappy on the BC coast unless you have a clear line. You almost have to see the vessel you are talking to in Johnson Straits. In the Charlottes where Astrid is, VHF is better but not optimal on the inside, particularly if you are up one of the inlets. SSB is pretty good throughout the area. We used to use CB radio when commercial fishing in the area years ago. As I recall there is a major fault line that runs just off the Queen Charlotte Islands that is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Phil

[roverhi]

At least in Kona, Tsunami turned out to be a dud. Had barely perceptible surge in Honokohau Harbor. As luck would have it, removed my engine controls on Saturday so I was stuck in the slip. Spent about 4 hours on the boat with no excitement. Glad I took my Kindle down. The harbors facing Canada had more significant waves, 1 1/2 metes at Kahalui on Maui, but not the long lasting surge of the Japan Quake.

Big difference form the Japanese Quake where the surge was outrageous in the Harbor. Believe two boats were sunk cause they got sucked under the fixed piers and a few others were badly scraped up. Surge lasted for more than 12 hours. Most people took their boats out or damage would have been astronomical. Heard some power boats came back to their slips too early. They'd turn to line up with their slip and end up slipping sideways two or three slips and then back again. Fortunately most gave up and went back out to sea till things had calmed down a bit more. I was one of the last boats to come back to my slip because my boat is such a pig in tight quarter maneuvering. Had about 15 people waiting on the pier to help me back in. Honokohau has mooring buoys for stern tie and bow to the dock or vice versa. No fingers between the boats, so a screw up could cost a lot of paint. A bunch of people stuck around to help those who came in after them. A combination of altruism and self protection. I tried to come back in the Harbor around 7am which was about 5 hours after the first wave hit. The harbor entrance has a dog leg and there was a huge whirlpool there. I did a quick 180 and didn't try and come back in till 4pm.

The problem with these major quakes that have been happening around the Pacific is there is virtually no measuring stations between us and where they are generated. Don't know what the waves will be till they get here. The Chile quake was minor as was this one but the Japan one wasn't. We had no idea how significant the Tsunamis are till it's almost on top of us. It's a significant issue as there are something like 80,000 people living in the Tsunami inundation zone in Honolulu. An 8 plus earthquake with significant ocean bottom movement that generated a big tsunami could be disastrous if people get complacent.

Think we've had 4 Tsunami warnings in the last 10 years. The first one generated a horrific traffic jam in Honolulu that would have ended up with thousands killed if there had been a significant wave. They learned from that and no longer evacuate the hotels in Waikiki. They move the guests up to the 7th floor and above and wait it out. The hotels are designed to survive a Tsunami though the damage to the lower floors would be significant. That's really helped out with the traffic issues in Honolulu.

Their are still major issues with the Waianae Coast on the wast side of Oahu. The mountains back up a thin strip of near sea level land that is almost totally residential. Only one road in or out and it's basically just a street. Haven't been out there for ages but think it's only two lanes till you are out of the area. 30,000, probably more, people basically trapped as the road barely handles commuter traffic. Reports were an hour or more to move a block or two.

Guess it's the price that we pay for mid 80s temps and sunny skies year around.

[Ex-Calif]

Glad things are OK in the PNW!

Last year after the Japan quake I needed a way to stay in touch with these types of things as I have a large team deployed all over Asia.

For the iStuff folks here are two tools I use daily.

Quake watch alerts of all quakes happening globally. You can filter, zoom etc. and set customizable alert levels so your iOS device gets push alerts. It has a highly zoomable map and a nice list view.

Disaster Alert is similar but tracks volcano eruptions, fires, tsunami's, nuclear accidents as well as quakes. Both apps link to government web sites with detail information.

Both apps seem to send me alerts before anything hits the news wires. It is also eye opening how many quakes over 5.0 there are in the world in just one week.

Have a look...

Note there were a lot of quakes off BC this week above 4.0. Note the 5.5 aftershock at 9+ mi depth. I am not a geologist but deeper is better with less felt on the surface.

Shallow high magnitude quakes are not good...

[Astrid]

As I recall there is a major fault line that runs just off the Queen Charlotte Islands that is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Phil

Yesterday's quake was generated along the Queen Charlotte fault, although there are other fault lines as well and three tectonic plates that converge at or near Haida Gwaii. We are still getting aftershocks which are somewhat nerve wracking to say the least, though not as bad as last night.

[perchance]

Let's hope this isn't the precursor to the "Big One" and why was NOOA an hour ahead of us in their warnings? Were our guys asleep at the switch?

[DeepFrz]

What guys? What switch?

[Astrid]

Yah, I hope it isn't a precursor either. I am not sure why our fellows were slow in issuing an alert. I know in some communities along the coast that no word came through and probably due to power failures communications were so chaotic that some places went ahead and set off the alarms before receiving official word. At Queen Charlotte Village on Graham Island--as soon as the shaking from the quake stopped, Mayor Kulesha issued orders putting the tsunami emergency plan in effect without waiting for official word.

[Captain Jeffry]

I get instant notices for US West Coast quakes: USGS ENS ens@usgs.gov

This just in:

PRELIM: M4.2 04:25 10/29 36.6N 121.2W 8 km NW of Pinnacles, CA CENTRAL CALIFORNIA Z=8km nc 71870540 14d75

Been getting a lot of emails in the 3.5 to 4+ lately. 3.7 last night in Santa Clarita last night. Whole lotta shakin' going on this last summer here in California