Magnitude
8.0
Date-Time
Wednesday, February 06, 2013 at 01:12:23 UTC
Wednesday, February 06, 2013 at 12:12:23 PM at epicenter
Tuesday, February 05, 2013 at 03:12:23 PM (HST) – Hawaii Standard (Honolulu)
Location
10.752°S, 165.089°E
Depth
5.8 km (3.6 miles) (poorly constrained)
Region
SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
Distances
81 km (50 miles) W of Lata, Solomon Islands
575 km (357 miles) NNW of Luganville, Vanuatu
581 km (361 miles) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands
847 km (526 miles) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu

TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT NUMBER   3
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
433 PM HST TUE FEB 05 2013

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT

THIS STATEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NO ACTION REQUIRED.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

   ORIGIN TIME - 0312 PM HST 05 FEB 2013
   COORDINATES - 10.9 SOUTH  165.1 EAST
   LOCATION    - SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
   MAGNITUDE   - 8.0  MOMENT

EVALUATION

 BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS
 NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. REPEAT. A
 DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO
 TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

 A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN CONFIRMED IN AREAS NEAR THE EPICENTER
 BUT IT SHOULD NOT AFFECT HAWAII.

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL STATEMENT ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

Pacific Wide Tsunami Bulletin

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 008
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 0347Z 06 FEB 2013

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...
WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

... TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH CANCELLATION ...

THE TSUNAMI WARNING ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED FOR

SOLOMON ISLANDS / VANUATU / NAURU / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / TUVALU /
NEW CALEDONIA / KOSRAE / FIJI / KIRIBATI / WALLIS AND FUTUNA

THE TSUNAMI WATCH ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED FOR

MARSHALL ISLANDS / HOWLAND AND BAKER / POHNPEI / TOKELAU /
SAMOA / KERMADEC ISLANDS / NEW ZEALAND / AMERICAN SAMOA /
TONGA / AUSTRALIA / NIUE / COOK ISLANDS / INDONESIA /
WAKE ISLAND / CHUUK / JARVIS ISLAND / GUAM / NORTHERN MARIANAS /
PALMYRA ISLAND / YAP / JOHNSTON ISLAND / MINAMITORISHIMA /
BELAU

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.  ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME -  0112Z 06 FEB 2013
COORDINATES -  10.9 SOUTH  165.1 EAST
DEPTH       -   33 KM
LOCATION    -  SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAGNITUDE   -  8.0

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION        LAT   LON    TIME        AMPL         PER
-------------------  ----- ------  -----  ---------------  -----
LUGANVILLE VU        15.5S 167.2E  0319Z   0.26M /  0.8FT  28MIN
DART 55023           14.8S 153.6E  0326Z   0.05M /  0.2FT  06MIN
HIENGHENE NEW CALED  20.7S 164.9E  0319Z   0.55M /  1.8FT  14MIN
LIFOU NEW CALEDONIA  20.9S 167.3E  0309Z   0.48M /  1.6FT  10MIN
VANUATU              17.8S 168.3E  0255Z   0.15M /  0.5FT  16MIN
DART 52406            5.3S 165.1E  0206Z   0.04M /  0.1FT  10MIN
DART 55012           15.8S 158.5E  0237Z   0.17M /  0.6FT  06MIN
LATA WHARF SB        10.7S 165.8E  0129Z   0.91M /  3.0FT  18MIN

LAT  - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON  - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
       IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
       VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER  - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

NOTE - DART MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM THE DEEP OCEAN AND THEY
       ARE GENERALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN WOULD BE COASTAL
        MEASUREMENTS AT SIMILAR LOCATIONS.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE
BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. FOR
THOSE AREAS - WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS
AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT
OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME
THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN
CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL
CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE
ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS ALTHOUGH SOME
MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES. FOR ALL AREAS COVERED BY
THIS CENTER...THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH ARE CANCELLED.

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.

USGS: How large does an earthquake have to be to cause a tsunami?

Magnitudes below 6.5
Earthquakes of this magnitude are very unlikely to trigger a tsunami.

Magnitudes between 6.5 and 7.5
Earthquakes of this size do not usually produce destructive tsunamis. However, small sea level changes may be observed in the vicinity of the epicenter. Tsunamis capable of producing damage or casualties are rare in this magnitude range but have occurred due to secondary effects such as landslides or submarine slumps.

Magnitudes between 7.6 and 7.8
Earthquakes of this size may produce destructive tsunamis especially near the epicenter; at greater distances small sea level changes may be observed. Tsunamis capable of producing damage at great distances are rare in the magnitude range.

Magnitude 7.9 and greater
Destructive local tsunamis are possible near the epicenter, and significant sea level changes and damage may occur in a broader region.

Note that with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the probability of an aftershock with a magnitude exceeding 7.5 is not negligible. To date, the largest aftershock recorded has been magnitude 7.1 that did not produce a damaging tsunami.