8.3 earthquake hit near American Samoa

[Hooked on Fenix]

There is a tsunami warning in the South Pacific due to an 8.3 magnitude earthquake. From what I've heard, this may be in the top 50 for highest recorded magnitude earthquakes. A small tsunami has hit American Samoa and caused no deaths. Hopefully that is the worst of it, but since they don't know yet, there may be more dangerous tsunamis to hit the nearby islands or even as far as Hawaii.

 

[StarHalo]

The tsunami watch for Hawaii was called off a short time ago; South Pacific coastlines are still under an advisory.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Last I heard, the 8.3 has been dropped to an 8.0 and the western coast of the U.S. is potentially at risk. It's probably best to just stay out of the Pacific Ocean for the next day or so just to be on the safe side.

 

[TedTheLed]

wow, they closed the beaches here, including Cabrillo Beach, everybody out by 7 pm...the maximum wave height was predicted to be 25 inches with no threat to anyone on the beach, but they want to make sure no one is in or too near the water to be safe..it's expected some time very early tomorrow morning..anyone have an exact time?, (I'm checking) --

 

[TedTheLed]

from what I can gather the wave hit at 9:03pm my (Pacific) time
(that's exactly when the coast guard helicopter flew over) and water level is expected to rise for an hour and a half
(already over) -- here's a live webcam at Cabrillo,
(my quicktime won't work -- hopefully yours does)

http://www.watchthewater.org/beach.cfm?bid=17