BREAKING NEWS: NEW TSUNAMI ALERT & TSUNAMI WARNING IN PACIFIC REGION

Update: this alert has been cancelled with a caution.

A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked the South Pacific near the Vanuatu archipelago, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, triggering a regional tsunami alert for the Pacific region. The quake struck Thursday(today) 183 miles (294 kilometers) northwest of the Vanuatu island of Santo, and 354 miles (596 kilometers) northwest of the capital of Port Vila, at a depth of 21 miles (35 kilometers).

People are being advised around the Pacific region to stay away from the beaches and coastlines.

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 1: THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS…EXCEPT ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA… WASHINGTON…OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING PACIFIC COUNTRIES

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

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING PACIFIC COUNTRIES:

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

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

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

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
NEAR THE EPICENTER WITHIN MINUTES AND MORE DISTANT COASTLINES WITHIN HOURS.
AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL MONITOR SEA LEVEL
DATA FROM GAUGES NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE TO DETERMINE IF A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED AND ESTIMATE THE SEVERITY OF THE THREAT.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW.
ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST.
A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

IF, PLEASE NOTE MY WORDS, IF A TSUNAMI HITS, IT IS FORECAST TO ARRIVE THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
AT THE FOLLOWING TIMES:

 LOCATION         FORECAST POINT     COORDINATES     ARRIVAL TIME
 --------------------------------    ------------    ------------
 VANUATU          ESPERITU SANTO     15.1S 167.3E    2231Z 07 OCT
                  ANATOM IS.         20.2S 169.9E    2324Z 07 OCT
 SOLOMON IS.      KIRAKIRA           10.4S 161.9E    2248Z 07 OCT
                  GHATERE             7.8S 159.2E    2328Z 07 OCT
                  MUNDA               8.4S 157.2E    2332Z 07 OCT
                  HONIARA             9.3S 160.0E    2336Z 07 OCT
                  AUKI                8.8S 160.6E    2336Z 07 OCT
                  PANGGOE             6.9S 157.2E    2346Z 07 OCT
                  FALAMAE             7.4S 155.6E    2348Z 07 OCT
 NAURU            NAURU               0.5S 166.9E    0003Z 08 OCT
 PAPUA NEW GUINE  KIETA               6.1S 155.6E    0005Z 08 OCT
                  AMUN                6.0S 154.7E    0007Z 08 OCT
                  RABAUL              4.2S 152.3E    0033Z 08 OCT
                  LAE                 6.8S 147.0E    0059Z 08 OCT
                  KAVIENG             2.5S 150.7E    0107Z 08 OCT
                  PORT MORESBY        9.3S 146.9E    0123Z 08 OCT
                  MADANG              5.2S 145.8E    0125Z 08 OCT
                  MANUS IS.           2.0S 147.5E    0145Z 08 OCT
                  WEWAK               3.5S 143.6E    0208Z 08 OCT
                  VANIMO              2.6S 141.3E    0229Z 08 OCT
 TUVALU           FUNAFUTI IS.        7.9S 178.5E    0013Z 08 OCT
 NEW CALEDONIA    NOUMEA             22.3S 166.5E    0015Z 08 OCT
 FIJI             SUVA               18.1S 178.4E    0037Z 08 OCT
 KIRIBATI         TARAWA IS.          1.5N 173.0E    0037Z 08 OCT
                  KANTON IS.          2.8S 171.7W    0132Z 08 OCT
                  CHRISTMAS IS.       2.0N 157.5W    0336Z 08 OCT
                  MALDEN IS.          3.9S 154.9W    0344Z 08 OCT
                  FLINT IS.          11.4S 151.8W    0414Z 08 OCT
 KOSRAE           KOSRAE IS.          5.5N 163.0E    0056Z 08 OCT
 WALLIS-FUTUNA    WALLIS IS.         13.2S 176.2W    0103Z 08 OCT
 HOWLAND-BAKER    HOWLAND IS.         0.6N 176.6W    0112Z 08 OCT
 MARSHALL IS.     MAJURO              7.1N 171.4E    0120Z 08 OCT
                  KWAJALEIN           8.7N 167.7E    0123Z 08 OCT
                  ENIWETOK           11.4N 162.3E    0149Z 08 OCT
 TOKELAU          NUKUNONU IS.        9.2S 171.8W    0125Z 08 OCT
 KERMADEC IS      RAOUL IS.          29.2S 177.9W    0129Z 08 OCT
 POHNPEI          POHNPEI IS.         7.0N 158.2E    0129Z 08 OCT
 NEW ZEALAND      NORTH CAPE         34.4S 173.3E    0134Z 08 OCT
                  EAST CAPE          37.7S 178.5E    0216Z 08 OCT
                  AUCKLAND(W)        37.1S 174.2E    0233Z 08 OCT
                  GISBORNE           38.7S 178.0E    0249Z 08 OCT
                  NEW PLYMOUTH       39.1S 174.1E    0310Z 08 OCT
                  AUCKLAND(E)        36.7S 175.0E    0314Z 08 OCT
                  NAPIER             39.5S 176.9E    0329Z 08 OCT
                  MILFORD SOUND      44.6S 167.9E    0335Z 08 OCT
                  WELLINGTON         41.3S 174.8E    0339Z 08 OCT
                  WESTPORT           41.8S 171.6E    0350Z 08 OCT
 SAMOA            APIA               13.8S 171.8W    0141Z 08 OCT
 AMERICAN SAMOA   PAGO PAGO          14.3S 170.7W    0152Z 08 OCT
 TONGA            NUKUALOFA          21.0S 175.2W    0152Z 08 OCT
 AUSTRALIA        BRISBANE           27.2S 153.3E    0155Z 08 OCT
                  CAIRNS             16.7S 145.8E    0204Z 08 OCT
                  SYDNEY             33.9S 151.4E    0228Z 08 OCT
                  GLADSTONE          23.8S 151.4E    0301Z 08 OCT
                  MACKAY             21.1S 149.3E    0322Z 08 OCT
                  HOBART             43.3S 147.6E    0355Z 08 OCT
 NIUE             NIUE IS.           19.0S 170.0W    0211Z 08 OCT
 COOK ISLANDS     PUKAPUKA IS.       10.8S 165.9W    0216Z 08 OCT
                  PENRYN IS.          8.9S 157.8W    0323Z 08 OCT
                  RAROTONGA          21.2S 159.8W    0325Z 08 OCT
 CHUUK            CHUUK IS.           7.4N 151.8E    0217Z 08 OCT
 INDONESIA        JAYAPURA            2.4S 140.8E    0233Z 08 OCT
                  WARSA               0.6S 135.8E    0316Z 08 OCT
                  MANOKWARI           0.8S 134.2E    0336Z 08 OCT
                  SORONG              0.8S 131.1E    0404Z 08 OCT
 WAKE IS.         WAKE IS.           19.3N 166.6E    0250Z 08 OCT
 JARVIS IS.       JARVIS IS.          0.4S 160.1W    0307Z 08 OCT
 PALMYRA IS.      PALMYRA IS.         6.3N 162.4W    0313Z 08 OCT
 GUAM             GUAM               13.4N 144.7E    0320Z 08 OCT
 N. MARIANAS      SAIPAN             15.3N 145.8E    0323Z 08 OCT
 JOHNSTON IS.     JOHNSTON IS.       16.7N 169.5W    0325Z 08 OCT
 YAP              YAP IS.             9.5N 138.1E    0330Z 08 OCT
 MARCUS IS.       MARCUS IS.         24.3N 154.0E    0342Z 08 OCT
 BELAU            MALAKAL             7.3N 134.5E    0344Z 08 OCT

BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL
FURTHER NOTICE.

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