Tidal Waves and Tsunamis

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    Vanuatu Earthquake Triggers Tsunami Alert

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    Forecasters said tsunami waves hitting the coastline of the Pacific Island nation could reach up to a meter, or 3.2 feet, above the tide level.A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck near the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu early Tuesday afternoon local time, according to the United States Geological Survey.The epicenter of the earthquake was about 18 miles off the coast of Port Vila, Vanuatu’s coastal capital, the agency said. The country is about 1,000 miles northeast of Australia and comprises over 80 islands with a population of about 300,000.Tsunami waves reaching up to 3.2 feet above the tide level were possible for some costal areas of Vanuatu, the U.S. Tsunami Warning System said. Waves of less than one foot were possible for the coasts of nearby island nations like Fiji, Kiribati and New Caledonia, it said.This is a developing story. More

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      What We Know About the 7.0-Magnitude California Earthquake

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      State and local officials were working to assess the full scope of the damage, but early reports appeared to show that the quake did not cause major destruction.An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck off the coast of Northern California on Thursday, briefly prompting a tsunami warning and leaving residents rattled from Southern Oregon to the San Joaquin Valley in California.State and local officials in California were working to assess the full scope of the damage, and early reports appeared to show that the earthquake did not cause major destruction. But it was the strongest to shake the state in more than five years.Here’s what we know so far.Where did the earthquake hit?The quake struck about 30 miles off the California coast a little before 11 a.m. local time, about 62 miles southwest of Ferndale, which has a population of about 1,300 people. It hit near a seismically active area known as the Mendocino Triple Junction, where three major tectonic plates meet.More than a dozen aftershocks were reported after the initial earthquake, including one with a magnitude of 4.3. The aftershocks could continue for weeks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Stephen DeLong, a geologist with the Earthquake Science Center at the U.S.G.S., said in a news briefing on Thursday that those closest to the epicenter, including residents of Ferndale, were the most likely to feel shaking or see any damage.The quake was the strongest to hit California since July 2019, when an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit near Ridgecrest in the Mojave Desert.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Tsunami Warning in San Francisco ‘Felt Like a Science Fiction Movie’

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      With his surfboard tucked under his arm, Alex Felton was about to walk a couple of blocks to San Francisco’s Ocean Beach on Thursday morning when his cellphone blared. “TSUNAMI WARNING!” an alert screamed. “You are in danger.”A lifelong surfer, Mr. Felton, 31, has ridden 10-foot waves at Ocean Beach many times. He considered jumping into the ocean anyway, he acknowledged later. But texts from friends convinced him to follow the alert’s directions and move away from the coast, not toward it.Which friends were worried that he might make a bad decision? “All of them,” he said with a grin.Bay Area residents rode a metaphorical wave together on Thursday, after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake off the California coast shook the ground for hundreds of miles and prompted the National Weather Service to issue a tsunami warning for coastal counties in Northern California and southern Oregon.First, blaring phone alerts scared the wits out of people across the region, their hearts pounding as they wondered what sort of disaster-movie-type scenario was about to occur. Then they calmed down and even laughed as the alert was called off about an hour later.“It was a lot to take in, in the moment,” said Johnny Williams, who owns a bookstore in Berkeley. “It felt like a science fiction movie.”Alex Felton, right, working the afternoon shift at Aqua Surf Shop in San Francisco. His planned morning surf session was interrupted by a tsunami warning. Loren Elliott for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Why Was a Tsunami Warning Issued, and Then Canceled? A Forecaster Explains.

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      About five minutes after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Northern California on Thursday morning, forecasters issued a tsunami warning at the highest of four levels.The warning, sent shortly before 11 a.m. Pacific Time, advised people to evacuate because of the potential for waves that could “injure or kill people and weaken or destroy buildings.” It was part of the National Tsunami Warning Center’s protocol in response to an earthquake, according to Dave Snider, a tsunami warning coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The warning was canceled about an hour later, but Mr. Snider said it was typical for a broad alert to be issued initially before it was refined or rolled back.In the first five minutes of an earthquake, the warning center acts quickly to decide whether to issue an alert and at which level, based on the magnitude and the location “because that’s all we have” at that point, Mr. Snider said.Then, about 20 minutes after a quake strikes, the center receives more details that can inform whether a warning should remain active.The center continued monitoring data from deep ocean sensors and coastal tide stations on Thursday, watching for “any very small and local problems to develop from underwater landslides,” Mr. Snider said. After determining that no tsunami was occurring, the center canceled the warning at 11:54 a.m.The warning center takes care with its decision to issue a tsunami warning, Mr. Snider said. “That’s a big deal.” More

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      Earthquake Off Japan Coast Triggers Tsunami Advisory

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      The earthquake occurred off the coast of Torishima Island, which is uninhabited, at 8:14 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The advisory was lifted at 11 a.m.An earthquake off the coast of Japan on Tuesday morning triggered tsunami advisories for residents across several remote islands, according to the authorities.The 5.9 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Torishima Island at 8:14 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The U.S. Geological Survey said its magnitude was 5.6. The Japanese agency issued tsunami advisories for the Izu and Ogasawara islands. Waves of up to one meter, or about three feet, were expected, forecasters said. The advisory was lifted at 11 a.m.A tsunami about 1.6 feet high reached the Hachijo Island at 8:58 a.m., according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. A tsunami about four inches high was recorded at Miyake Island at 9:11 a.m., the agency said.A tsunami forecast indicating slight sea level change of less than 0.2 meters, or about eight inches, was issued for the eastern and southern islands of Japan.According to the national broadcaster NHK, residents are advised to remain vigilant and stay away from coastal areas. The Japan Coast Guard has issued warnings to ships in the area, NKH reported.Torishima is an uninhabited volcanic island about 375 miles south of Tokyo. It is part of the southern Izu Islands.The tsunami advisory followed a record amount of rain that killed six people and triggered flooding and landslides in a coastal region in Japan that is still recovering from a deadly earthquake earlier this year, according to local authorities.Yan Zhuang More