Tsunami Warning for Hawaii?

[Kungpao]

I just saw something on CNN.com that you guys are on a Tsunami warning. Hope you all are ok!

[pzarquon]

Cancelled (http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=5126).An 8.1 earthquake near the Kuril Islands, Japan generates a tsunami bulletin: THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH ARE CANCELLED FOR ALL COASTAL AREAS AND ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC OUTSIDE OF ALASKA - BRITISH COLOMBIA - WASHINGTON - OREGON - CALIFORNIA. THOSE AREAS SHOULD REFER TO MESSAGES FROM THE WEST COAST AND ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER.

[manoasurfer123]

Looks like we did get hit with the Tsunami:rolleyes:
said the tsunami varied from 8 inches at Hanalei to 1.6 inches at Nawiliwili.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Nov/15/br/br1506893724.html

[WindwardOahuRN]

There has been sort of a running commentary about it in the Advertiser this morning:

http://honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

[LikaNui]

There has been sort of a running commentary about it in the Advertiser this morning Yes, and with the extremely misleading headline of "Tsunami Sweeps Hawaii".
Shame on them.
:mad:

[craigwatanabe]

My wife got the call this morning right after the "Warning" and the first thing I said after being so abruptly awaken that early in the morning with a phone call to her was, "Why didn't the sirens go off!"

Then I find out the warning was downgraded to a watch. I took a pepto and went back to sleep. I live within a 5-minute walk from the beach.

[poinographer]

Uh, what headline would you recommend? It was a tsunami, it did sweep the state. What's misleading?

[tutusue]

I kept hearing on the news about the 12"-16" tsunami that was generated. How is a tsunami measured? If it's a wave, wouldn't it look pretty much like any other 12"-16" wave? Or, does the tide rise that much and a bouy measures it? :confused:

[craigwatanabe]

Uh, what headline would you recommend? It was a tsunami, it did sweep the state. What's misleading?

With a headline like that (especially after the earthquake) I'm bracing myself for the deluge of phone calls and emails from people who only read headlines and not the body of the story.

Obviously when people see the word Tsunami, we think of massive waves ripping out everything in it's wake. Not too many people consider that any wake caused by an underwater earthquake is defined as a tsunami.

When advertisers use the word Tsunami, they are trying to paint the picture of BIG. Same goes in the thinking of people who don't really know how small tsunami's can get.

[1stwahine]

Breaking News from The StarBulletin!
http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=5132

Ocean surges close Hanauma Bay

Posted on: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 2:32 PM HST
Star-Bulletin Staff

"City officials closed the beach at Hanauma Bay this morning because of ocean surges caused by the powerful eartquake off Japan.

City officials said the sea changes exposed the reef and created dangerous currents.

“Our people there reported the currents and the surge in the bay were really strange,” said Dr. Libby Char, director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department. “The water level would drop several feet in a few minutes, then come back.”

There was a Tsunami!:eek:

Auntie Lynn

[D'Alani]

I was at Magic Island this morning around 8:30 am and you could definitely see the "surge". Although there were no "big waves" to speak of you could tell that the water was coming in at a high rate of speed. There were pieces of wood and other rubbish that were coming in by the Yacht Club at faster than normal speed, in other words in wasn't just the tide coming in. Also although the ocean was relatively flat the water was hitting the breakers with enough force to make it "splash". I watched this for about 15 minutes and was in awe that even without waves the water could still move at that rate. So I'm very glad that there were no waves. It would be interesting to hear what surfers or divers felt at the time.

[LikaNui]

Uh, what headline would you recommend? It was a tsunami, it did sweep the state. What's misleading? See Craig's reply (#9, above).
The headline "Tsunami Sweeps Hawaii" implies that a giant wave washed over the top of all the islands, or something close to that. The headline was sensationalistic. Suitable for a supermarket tabloid. It brought to mind the vivid TV images of the tsunami hitting Indonesia on December 26, 2004.
Ergo, and to answer your question, the Advertiser's headline should've made it very clear that it was SMALL tsunami surges.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

..The headline was sensationalistic...

More than sensational, but not quite sensationalistical, eh? ;)

[tutusue]

I was at Magic Island this morning around 8:30 am and you could definitely see the "surge". Although there were no "big waves" to speak of you could tell that the water was coming in at a high rate of speed. There were pieces of wood and other rubbish that were coming in by the Yacht Club at faster than normal speed. inother words in wasn't just the tide coming in. Also although the ocean was relatively flat the water was hitting the breakers with enough force to make it "splash". I watched this for about 15 minutes and was in awe that even without waves the water could still move at that rate. So I'm very glad that there were no waves. It would be interesting to hear what surfers or divers felt at the time.
How interesting. I really wish I'd been home this morning to watch the surge against the breakwater outside my living room. Still, I'd love to know how a 12"-16" tsunami is measured.

[LikaNui]

I'd love to know how a 12"-16" tsunami is measured. With a 17" ruler.

;)

[christa]

lol i thought it was a typo! 16 INCHES? did they mean feet? stories?


inches.

[tutusue]

With a 17" ruler.

;)
Heh! I did imagine someone in the water with a tape measure. :o

[blueyecicle]

Well, it didn't affect Hawaii much but it hit Crescent California pretty good!

CRESCENT CITY – Two docks were destroyed after a five-foot surge rolled into the Crescent City Harbor on Wednesday afternoon and caused up to $700,000 in damages.
The surge was the result of an undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 that struck earlier in the day near Japan, prompting tsunami warnings for Japan, Russia and Alaska, according to the National Weather Service.

Thousands of people living along northern Japan's Pacific coast fled to higher ground, but Japan's meteorological agency withdrew its tsunami warning after about three hours. Tsunami warnings for Russia and coastal areas of Alaska also were canceled, as were tsunami watches for Hawaii, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia and several Pacific islands.
One swimmer suffered minor cuts when small surges hit Waikiki beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20061115-2103-ca-californiatsunami.html

[Pua'i Mana'o]

have you ever watched footage from the Indian Ocean tsunamis? Youtube and metacafe contain many clips. Watching them made me rethink the effects of these waves, foremost among them being that it is more about the force of the whole ocean behind the waves/surges than the actual waves themselves. The height of the wave needs to be put in perspective with the force of water accompanying it.

[blueyecicle]

well, yeah! Because if even if the injuries were only minor the swimmmer still got hurt from the surges. It doesn't measure the power of it. I don't think the swells that did damage in CA were high. Just powerful.

[GeckoGeek]

does the tide rise that much and a bouy measures it? :confused:

That's probably what it is.

As others have observed, a tsunami isn't really a "wave" that most people are used to. It is a wave, but with a very long period. I think I was told once that if the crest hits the beach, the trough is on the horizon. The effect on the water is more like the tide coming in/going out. (But much faster) Hence the name "tidal wave". That's why it's so lame for surfers to run down to the beach to try and surf this thing. There's simply nothing to surf. Hopefully this experience will help educate the public about what kind of "wave" a "tidal wave" is.

[D'Alani]

I'm pretty sure that the bouy measures the height of the swell by the rise and fall of the bouy and also the lenght of time that the swell passes under the bouy. From this info they can estimate how big the wave will be when it enters shallow waters. The ETA of the surge was accurate.

[GeckoGeek]

The ETA of the surge was accurate.

ETA is simple: Time of event + distance/speed of wave

Now wave height, that's a tricker estimate. Good to see that they were close. I'm sure they'll go over their data and see if they can improve.

[timkona]

Don't know if I told this story or not, but I just did a search and could not find it. So here goes. This is some funny $#!+, as told to me by several who were there.

On the morning of the earthquake, the Old Airport football field was filling with families setting up Pop-Tents & coolers at 6:30 AM getting ready for a the first 8 AM Pop Warner Football Game. Babies crawling, Uncles breakin out the WD-40 from their "oh so stocked" $80,000 Dodge cuz "damn ting stay stucking" when the tent poles won't properly extend. Tutu gettin the snack bar ready, everybody smiling & laughing, and football players gettin suited and warmed up. A Rockwell snapshot of life in Hawaii. :)

Then the Earthquake, you know the one at about ten after 7 am.

Right away, after everybody stand up, somebody thought about the possible Tsunami that could be comin' in. Well, man you shoulda seen it.

300 lb fathers (former football players back in the glory day) carrying babies, one under each arm, with a 7 year old on shoulders, running, no I mean RUNNING, with Auntie right behind, toward their Fancy Fords, Shiny Chevy's, and Dually Dodges, toss the keiki into the bed like cordwood, and jump in.

Full Le Mans Start !! Dodge vs. Chevy vs. Ford.......Horsepower City with machine gun gravel spewin, chewin up the Old Airport parking lot, like the Dukes of Hazzard meets the Drifting Crowd. Two lanes wide goin up Makalapua toward K-Mart, with lots of "passing" at 90+mph, while engines that have never seen 5000 RPM's in the Kona Crawl, flex their Detroit muscles and smile proudly. "Buggah wen go Bra!" :D

Rumour has it that the Ford's won, and nobody collided. Does it matter?
The visuals are just FUNNY.


And when they got back to the field 15 minutes later, there was a homeless guy riffling through the coolers, eating their food. :cool:

[1stwahine]

TimKona,

I wuz pissed from da Watada Thread but afta reading your story I'm ALL SMILES NOW!:D

Only in Hawai'i!!!

Mahalo

Auntie Lynn

[alohabear]

I can't believe KGMB wasted 12 mins of news time on a non-tsunami. I guess being out of the loop during the earthquake, they had to do a complete overkill.

[Palolo Joe]

I can't believe KGMB wasted 12 mins of news time on a non-tsunami. I guess being out of the loop during the earthquake, they had to do a complete overkill.
Actually, I learned more about what happened throughout the Pacific basin from Guy Hagi than I did from any of the other newscasts.

Non-tsunami? An unusual tidal surge of five feet in some places, repeating every 40 minutes for a couple of hours? It might not have been a major one, but there was a tsunami.

That's newsworthy.

[helen]

And if we had to be hit by a tsunami in the future, the size that hit yesterday would be the best to get hit by.

I agree with Palolo Joe it was newsworthy. I couldn't tell how minutes that KITV covered at the 10pm newscast last night but they had at least three reporters out at different places around the state showing the effects of this tsunami, while minor in it's size and very little damage it caused it still demostrates how things were not ordinary yesterday.

[Miulang]

And if we had to be hit by a tsunami in the future, the size that hit yesterday would be the best to get hit by.

I agree with Palolo Joe it was newsworthy. I couldn't tell how minutes that KITV covered at the 10pm newscast last night but they had at least three reporters out at different places around the state showing the effects of this tsunami, while minor in it's size and very little damage it caused it still demostrates how things were not ordinary yesterday.
People on Maui did notice some very peculiar wave action ("tidal surges") at Kahului and Maalaea Harbors (http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=25225).

Miulang