7.7M Earthquake in South Pacific

[RL3AO]

... A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT ...

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

TONGA / NIUE / KERMADEC IS / AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA /
WALLIS-FUTUNA / FIJI

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

...

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 1818Z 19 MAR 2009
COORDINATES - 23.0 SOUTH 174.8 WEST
DEPTH - 48 KM
LOCATION - TONGA ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.7

EVALUATION

IT IS NOT KNOWN THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. THIS WARNING IS
BASED ONLY ON THE EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION. AN EARTHQUAKE OF THIS
SIZE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THAT CAN
STRIKE COASTLINES IN THE REGION NEAR THE EPICENTER WITHIN MINUTES
TO HOURS. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE
ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL MONITOR
SEA LEVEL GAUGES NEAREST THE REGION AND REPORT IF ANY TSUNAMI
WAVE ACTIVITY IS OBSERVED. THE WARNING WILL NOT EXPAND TO OTHER
AREAS OF THE PACIFIC UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED TO
WARRANT SUCH AN EXPANSION.

[JonathanBelles]

WOW!!! Thats a big one!!