Earthquakes/Tsunami warnings

Forums › Off topic › Earthquakes/Tsunami warnings - Fri 5/3/21

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Smpl Mnmlst
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#2668171 5-Mar-2021 11:45

Just received the tsunami warning alert on my phone in Auckland. Given that the Kermadec Islands are 1,000 km from here, that tsunami energy travels at 800 kph in open ocean and that the earthquake up there happened three hours ago, isn’t this warning a bit ridiculous?

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MikeB4

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#2668173 5-Mar-2021 11:48

eracode:

Just received the tsunami warning alert on my phone in Auckland. Given that the Kermadec Islands are 1,000 km from here, that tsunami energy travels at 800 kph in open ocean and that the earthquake up there happened three hours ago, isn’t this warning a bit ridiculous?

Tsunamis don't arrive as one wave. The activity can be over a long period. Intensity can start low and build before stopping.

GregV

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#2668174 5-Mar-2021 11:49

We are in Rotorua, and my wife (on 2degrees) just received the 'Auckland' emergency mobile announcement. I am on Spark, and did not receive the alert (as expected). Wonder if 2d does something different with the alert?

eracode

Smpl Mnmlst
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#2668176 5-Mar-2021 11:51

MikeB4:

eracode:

Just received the tsunami warning alert on my phone in Auckland. Given that the Kermadec Islands are 1,000 km from here, that tsunami energy travels at 800 kph in open ocean and that the earthquake up there happened three hours ago, isn’t this warning a bit ridiculous?

Tsunamis don't arrive as one wave. The activity can be over a long period. Intensity can start low and build before stopping.

Yes I’m aware of that - but, after one shock, surely they don’t keep coming two hours after the initial activity would have arrived?

The initial tsunami warning for Northland and BoP was issued nearly two hours ago and specifically excluded Auckland.

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MikeB4

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#2668178 5-Mar-2021 11:53

Fred99:

Last thing experts evaluating system failures need is any pressure to respond to idiots on social media, and some of the idiots in the news media.

There were issues with tsunami warning from the "Kaikoura" quake due to a few things, there's a thread about it on GZ. It took time to sort out. The quake was complex - without record of precedent. Pleas to fund 24/7 tsunami duty officers had fallen on deaf ears. The one person responsible for decisions was probably asleep at home and probably got woken at midnight and had the same thought going through his head as everybody else - "what the hell was that?". Despite your claim that social media is useful, I can't recall a single post on social media discussing those details. Most of what I read was sensational garbage.

There were Tsunamis generated by the Kaikoura event. One gentleman lost his house. There are video clips of the waves arriving in Wellington beside the Airport. I guess again some were disappointed there was no mayhem from the Tsunami then.

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#2668180 5-Mar-2021 11:55

eracode:

Yes I’m aware of that - but, after one shock, surely they don’t keep coming two hours after the initial activity would have arrived?

The initial tsunami warning for Northland and BoP was issued nearly two hours ago and specifically excluded Auckland.

The activity can go on for hours and can include wave activity, rips and very strong unpredictable currents and very high tides.

eracode

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#2668183 5-Mar-2021 11:58

MikeB4:

eracode:

Yes I’m aware of that - but, after one shock, surely they don’t keep coming two hours after the initial activity would have arrived?

The initial tsunami warning for Northland and BoP was issued nearly two hours ago and specifically excluded Auckland.

The activity can go on for hours and can include wave activity, rips and very strong unpredictable currents and very high tides.

Right. Then what I don’t get is, if there was danger for Auckland, why was it specifically excluded in the original warning 2-3 hours earlier?

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Fred99

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#2668185 5-Mar-2021 12:03

MikeB4:

There were Tsunamis generated by the Kaikoura event. One gentleman lost his house. There are video clips of the waves arriving in Wellington beside the Airport. I guess again some were disappointed there was no mayhem from the Tsunami then.

They didn't set off the tsunami alarms in Chch until about an hour after the tsunami destroyed the house in Little Pigeon Bay.

The waves were visible to the public on the GNS tsunami network gauges long before any tsunami warning was issued.

There's an "obvious failure" this time. The tsunami gauges (and seismograph) at Raoul Island appear to have been taken off-line by the M8.1 quake. OTOH that may be just telemetry or whatever, GNS may have access to data. I don't know, and I'm not going to scream blue murder on Facebook. There's nobody on the island at the moment apparently (Covid related), it's usually manned full time.

RunningMan

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#2668186 5-Mar-2021 12:03

Because as new information is received it is reacted to.

MikeB4

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#2668188 5-Mar-2021 12:07

eracode:

Right. Then what I don’t get is, if there was danger for Auckland, why was it specifically excluded in the original warning 2-3 hours earlier?

I never saw the Tamaki Makaurau alert but this is from the CD advisory...

"AREAS WITH TSUNAMI ACTIVITY:

There is no need to evacuate the following areas unless directly advised by local civil defence authorities.

Strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges near the shore are expected in the following areas. This means a threat to beach, harbour, estuary and small boat activities.

The West Coast of the North Island from AHIPARA to MAKARA including the West Coast of Auckland, Manukau Harbour, New Plymouth, Whanganui and the Kapiti Coast.

The East Coast of the North Island from WHANGAREI to MATATA including Whangarei, the East Coast of Auckland, Waiheke Island, Waitemata Harbour and Tauranga, from TOLAGA BAY to LAKE FERRY including Gisborne and Napier.

The West and South Coasts of the South Island from FAREWELL SPIT to PUYSEGUR POINT including Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika.

The top of the South Island from FAREWELL SPIT to PORT UNDERWOOD including Nelson, Picton and the Marlborough Sounds.

The East and South Coasts of the South Island from the WAIPARA RIVER to the RAKAIA RIVER including Christchurch and Banks Peninsula, from the TAIERI RIVER to PUYSEGUR POINT including Invercargill.

And STEWART ISLAND.

And the CHATHAM ISLANDS."

I would assume the risk in Manukau Harbour was different at the time of the initial alerts. These things change and alerts change. That is why it is vital to stay tuned to CD announcements for your particular region

kiwiharry

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#2668189 5-Mar-2021 12:09

GregV:

We are in Rotorua, and my wife (on 2degrees) just received the 'Auckland' emergency mobile announcement. I am on Spark, and did not receive the alert (as expected). Wonder if 2d does something different with the alert?

I'm on Vodafone and got alert. My son is on Skinny and got alert. My wife on 2D and didn't get alert. Wife and I have exact same model of phones.

We all got Covid alerts though in recent weeks.

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tdgeek

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#2668190 5-Mar-2021 12:10

eracode:

Right. Then what I don’t get is, if there was danger for Auckland, why was it specifically excluded in the original warning 2-3 hours earlier?

This was just covered. There was no tsunami threat to AKL. No issue re disturbed waters. From whatever info has come through, the effect on disturbed waters has increased so then included.

MikeB4

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#2668191 5-Mar-2021 12:13

Fred99:

They didn't set off the tsunami alarms in Chch until about an hour after the tsunami destroyed the house in Little Pigeon Bay.

The waves were visible to the public on the GNS tsunami network gauges long before any tsunami warning was issued.

From memory (Memory such a fickle thing) the sirens went off within 20 minutes of the quake in Te Whanganui a tara and Te awakairangi. I can remember is was quite spooky, no lights no power then sirens. My late father in law was living an a designated threat area and we went and collected him, the poor old guy thought there was an air raid, he lived in London during the Blitz so understandable.

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#2668194 5-Mar-2021 12:18

MikeB4:

One of the issues with these events folks seem to think it will be like Hollywood with massive surfing type waves coming to shore and The Rock flying in on an Iroquois to save the day and when that doesn't happen then the Emergency Management are muppets that don't know what they are doing. Its pathetic, I feel some are disappointed when there is not mayhem and death.

It's a delicate balancing act between being careful and getting blasé.
In the years running up to 2011, there was a string of tsunami alerts on Japanese TV, and after a long string of alerts that turned out to be 10 or 20 cm-high tsunami, people stopped paying that much attention.

Then the big one hit - and I watched on TV from 50 km away as the tsunami hit - not so much a wave, as the tide coming in really really fast. And a village (Ukedo) near where I previously lived with the best sushi restaurants and cozy little bars being wiped off the face of the earth, and pieces of concrete seawall the size of buses being washed inland over a kilometer.

A number of people died that day because they didn't take these things seriously. But the Japanese now pay a lot more attention to tsunami warnings.

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Fred99

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#2668195 5-Mar-2021 12:20

MikeB4:

From memory (Memory such a fickle thing) the sirens went off within 20 minutes of the quake in Te Whanganui a tara and Te awakairangi. I can remember is was quite spooky, no lights no power then sirens. My late father in law was living an a designated threat area and we went and collected him, the poor old guy thought there was an air raid, he lived in London during the Blitz so understandable.

They set the things off too late here (Chch), mind you I doubt few slept through the quake. There was a stream of traffic leaving the coast (New Brighton etc), I can see the roads from here (on the hills).

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