Earthquake of 7.9 magnitude strikes Samoa Islands
September 30th, 2009 - 1:29 am ICT by Aishwarya BhattSamoa Islands, Sep 29 (THAINDIAN NEWS) An earthquake of 7.9 on the Richter scale, struck the Samoa Islands. It struck the epicenter at Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 17:48:19 UTC at a depth of 35 kilometers, some 180 km (110 miles) ENE of Hihifo, Tonga.
The exact location of epicenter is 15.554°S, 172.141°W at a depth of 85.4 km(53.1 miles)
The NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued the following warning: -
“A tsunami watch is issued for the state of Hawaii effective at 0805 am HST.
An earthquake has occurred with these preliminary parameters
Origin time - 0748 am HST 29 sep 2009
Coordinates - 15.3 south 171.0 west
Location - Samoa Islands Region
Magnitude - 7.9 moment
Evaluation
Based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter. An investigation is underway to determine if there is a tsunami threat to Hawaii.
If tsunami waves impact Hawaii the estimated earliest arrival of the first tsunami wave is
0111 pm HST Tue 29 Sep 2009
Messages will be issued hourly or sooner as conditions warrant.”
The real extent of the damage is still to be ascertained. As of now, the casualties are still to be reported.
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