Thursday, September 17, 2015

A tsunami could hit Hawaii early Thursday morning

http://www.businessinsider.com/a-small-tsunami-might-hit-hawaii-tomorrow-morning-2015-9

A massive magnitude 8.3 earthquake just shook Chile, and now weather experts are expecting a tsunami about nine feet high to hit the area. Some parts of Chile could experience waves as high as 15 feet, according to local news station 24 Horas.
The quake hit around 7:55 pm local time. Earthquakes of this magnitude are so rare they only happen about once a year, i09 reports. Local reports say the shaking lasted almost a full minute.
A buoy off the coast of Chile is registering tsunami anomalies, further confirming that a wave might be headed for Chile and possibly Hawaii.
Earthquakes often trigger tsunamis, and this Chile quake could trigger one that will hit Hawaii tomorrow morning, according to Hawaii Storm Watch:
The quake's center was about 142 miles north of Santiago, the capital of Chile. That’s close enough that some buildings in Santiago swayed under the force.
The quake happened about six miles off the coast of Chile, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Several aftershocks have already hit the region, some over magnitude six.
We don't know for sure if a tsunami will hit Hawaii, how many might arrive, or how big they might be. What we do know is that the NOAA has warned such a tsunami could be destructive, and that the first tsunami could arrive at 3:11am local time on Thursday, September 17:
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.

Fortunately, updated weather predictions show the wave is a series, rather than a single giant swell:
And the Hawaii tsunami is now downgraded to an advisory level. 
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