Earthquake: 7.6 M - Tonga

Update: Earthquake Details revised - Downgraded from 7.9 to 7.6 M

TSUNAMI ADVISORY IN THE STATE OF HAWAII - BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE
TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE
AT 0831 AM HST.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0818 AM HST 19 MAR 2009
COORDINATES - 23.0 SOUTH 174.8 WEST
LOCATION - TONGA ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.7 MOMENT

EVALUATION:

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS ISSUED A NON-EXPANDING
REGIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING FOR A PART OF THE PACIFIC NEAR THE
EARTHQUAKE. BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE
TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

HOWEVER... SOME COASTAL AREAS IN HAWAII COULD EXPERIENCE SMALL
NON-DESTRUCTIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG OR UNUSUAL CURRENTS
LASTING UP TO SEVERAL HOURS.
-------------------

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.

LOCATION         FORECAST POINT     COORDINATES     ARRIVAL TIME
--------------------------------    ------------    ------------
TONGA            NUKUALOFA          21.0S 175.2W    1845Z 19 MAR
NIUE             NIUE IS.           19.0S 170.0W    1904Z 19 MAR
KERMADEC IS      RAOUL IS.          29.2S 177.9W    1912Z 19 MAR
AMERICAN SAMOA   PAGO PAGO          14.3S 170.7W    1925Z 19 MAR
SAMOA            APIA               13.8S 171.8W    1934Z 19 MAR
WALLIS-FUTUNA    WALLIS IS.         13.2S 176.2W    1947Z 19 MAR
FIJI             SUVA               18.1S 178.4E    2003Z 19 MAR

Tonga earthquake map

Earthquake Details

Magnitude	7.9
Date-Time	Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 18:17:37 UTC Friday, March 20, 2009 at 06:17:37 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	23.015°S, 174.782°W
Depth	10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region	TONGA REGION
Distances	210 km (130 miles) SSE of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga 480 km (300 miles) ESE of Ndoi Island, Fiji 490 km (305 miles) S of Neiafu, Tonga 1830 km (1140 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 9.4 km (5.8 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters	NST= 82, Nph= 82, Dmin=759.2 km, Rmss=1.18 sec, Gp= 58°, M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	us2009ejbr