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M8.7 earthquake in Western Pacific, tsunami warning issued

864 points| jandrewrogers | 7 months ago |earthquake.usgs.gov

243 comments

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[+] decimalenough|7 months ago|reply
Japan forecasting tsunamis up to 3m across basically the entire eastern coast. First waves will hit within 10 minutes.

https://www.nhk.or.jp/kishou-saigai/tsunami/

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/live/ (live, Japanese)

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/live/ (live, English)

The east coast is also where the vast majority of Japan's population lives, and was previously hit by the 2011 tsunami (Fukushima and all that). We're about to find out the hard way what lessons they have learned.

Update: First detected wave in Nemuro, Hokkaido (northernmost Japan) was only 30cm. There may be more. Waves of 3-4m have apparently already hit Kamchatka in Russia.

Update 2: We're almost an hour in and highest waves to actually hit Japan remain only 40 cm. It looks unlikely that this will cause major damage.

[+] sugarpimpdorsey|7 months ago|reply
Japanese news reporting during disaster scenarios is something to behold.

The screen is filled with data and blinking like a Bloomberg Terminal.

[+] BalinKing|7 months ago|reply
A̶F̶A̶I̶C̶T̶,̶ ̶N̶T̶V̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶p̶o̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶3̶m̶ ̶w̶a̶v̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶i̶t̶ ̶J̶a̶p̶a̶n̶.̶

EDIT: Apologies, I misunderstood—a reply to this comment said they were just predictions. (I saw in this video[0] that the first waves had arrived, and assumed the heights would've therefore corresponded to actual measurements. But it's still in the "predictions" section, and I should've noticed that before posting....)

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbRCvDZO5Zk

[+] Brystephor|7 months ago|reply
How big was the 2011 tsunami? Is 3m bigger or smaller?
[+] deadbabe|7 months ago|reply
Don’t worry, if there’s one nation we can trust to have done the right thing, it’s Japan.
[+] carabiner|7 months ago|reply
I've been monitoring the situation, but it appears nothing ever happens.
[+] shusaku|7 months ago|reply
My guess is that the wide area simply reflects the uncertainty, and not some apocalyptic scenario. Hopefully this broad warning and plenty of time gets everyone out of danger effectively
[+] ashoeafoot|7 months ago|reply
Question: Could you cancel out a tsunami with a underwater explosion, similar to active noise canceling ?
[+] vasusen|7 months ago|reply
My wife decided to not travel to Japan due to an impending warning from a manga for July 2025. I have been making fun of her all month only to get this tsunami warning now!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2025_Japan_megaquake_prop....

> The 2021 reprint capitalizing off this revived popularity warned of a "real disaster" in July 2025, causing a minor case of mass hysteria in 2025 when summer trips to Japan from East Asia decreased markedly and several airlines even cancelled flights.

[+] Waterluvian|7 months ago|reply
Sadly we won’t hear from the partners of everyone whose manga didn’t successfully predict a real disaster in a month.
[+] physicles|7 months ago|reply
Well, you can continue to make fun of her because, fortunately, this has turned out to be basically nothing (for Japan, anyway).
[+] theogravity|7 months ago|reply
> The statement was revised later to specify the date "July 5, 2025" as that of an asteroid impact,[8] or even the end of the world.[9]
[+] jajko|7 months ago|reply
Is your wife generally fearful like that or this was a rare occurrence and she can actually have some introspection on that and has a fighting chance of coming on top of that?

I know few folks like that, for them it comes from general lack of understanding of reality, society and human nature, a lot of superstition in various directions and similar traits. Suffice to say its very hard to live up to one's potential in life with such mindset, but such things could be conquered if there is enough resolve.

[+] bamboozled|7 months ago|reply
the manga was about a mega quake in Japan, not a tsunami from Russia
[+] andsoitis|7 months ago|reply
Quick link to the tsunami view: https://www.tsunami.gov/

Just “watch” level for US west coast, but warning level for Hawaii and Alaska.

[+] _fs|7 months ago|reply
Air alarms are going off in Hawaii. Still a few hours away, but they are not joking around. Saying it can wrap around all the islands and hit anywhere
[+] mordechai9000|7 months ago|reply
Has anyone heard how bad it was in Petropovlosk? USGS estimates "severe" shaking with the possibility of moderate to heavy damage and a chance of fatalities.

They have had quite a swarm of quakes there over the last couple of weeks, including one that was M7+ around the 20th.

[+] ansgri|7 months ago|reply
From what I see in Russian-language news, only relatively minor damage. I've lived in Petropavlovsk, it's an ugly city in various states of disrepair, but they do take seismic reinforcements seriously, like mag 7 should cause zero damage according to plan.

It's basically immune to tsunamis as it's protected by a bay with narrow entrance that extinguishes the waves, also most of the city is raised at least 10m above the sea.

[+] rhet0rica|7 months ago|reply
Severo-Kurilsk, an island town destroyed by a similar tsunami in 1956, lost its port again: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severo-Kurilsk — the rest of the settlement was rebuilt on higher ground, leaving only the port vulnerable.

The settlement is notable as having belonged to the Japanese in late 19th and early 20th centuries, who once relocated islanders there. Russian Wikipedia says they were Ainu.

[+] shusaku|7 months ago|reply
So far the news here has only shown damage to a school (which apparently was empty due to repair work), and some bad flooding in one part. Let’s hope for the best.
[+] decimalenough|7 months ago|reply
It's a very remote, very thinly populated area. The entire Kamchatka peninsula has under 300,000 people, who (statistically) have 1 km2 each.
[+] piskov|7 months ago|reply
Current official news:

Around 3k were evacuated in the region to safe areas as a precaution: aftershocks are expected for a month.

Some buildings (including hospitals) have cracks due to an earthquake.

Some minor damage to power lines, some near-shore flooding at some businesses.

All in all, it’s ok.

[+] czhu12|7 months ago|reply
On Twitter, a search for Russia brings up some videos of pretty severe shaking
[+] ivan_gammel|7 months ago|reply
Officials report M5-6 in the area, minor damage, several injuries, tell locals not to go to the beach in the next few weeks. They are used to it…
[+] bicx|7 months ago|reply
That area of Russia has seen quite a bit of massive seismic activity over the last couple of weeks. I keep getting earthquake alerts about each one.
[+] grigri907|7 months ago|reply
What do you use for alerts?
[+] user____name|7 months ago|reply
People tripping over eachother arguing whether a tsunami is a "wave" on a disaster warning submission... If HN was a village everyone would drown in the process.
[+] Kozmik1|7 months ago|reply
Waves at Midway Atoll and Guam are reported to be 3ft (1m) amplitude by Hawaii Governor Josh Green as of 6:24pm Hawaii Time
[+] supportengineer|7 months ago|reply
I have family members who were in Hawaii (Haleiwa) today and they are wondering if they should try to beat the tsunami and get back to their hotel in Waikiki.

I am afraid Waikiki will see flooding. I know Duke's and some other restaurants were closing early.

[+] contingencies|7 months ago|reply
AIS map of vessels in the area: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:166.7/cent...

A fairly small US fishing vessel is in relative proximity... https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:43...

Talked to the AI which said: MMI 4.5 in the context of an M8.7 quake, for your vessel: Danger level from shaking alone: Very low in open water. Danger from tsunami in the open ocean: Very low (unless extremely close to epicenter). Prime danger: If near shore, from tsunami run-up, NOT the shaking. Actionable advice: Remain in deep water until tsunami warnings have cleared; proceed to port only when officially safe. Monitor official maritime and tsunami alerts closely after any major earthquake.

That's interesting. Mental note, if piloting a vessel in a tsunami, head to deep water.

[+] N19PEDL2|7 months ago|reply
It is the sixth strongest earthquake ever recorded on the planet.
[+] lordswork|7 months ago|reply
https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/tsunami/maps is getting a hug of death :(

If anyone gets on, please post a screenshot.

[+] wging|7 months ago|reply
The USA also has a site that seems to be up at the moment. Without seeing the CA version I'm not sure how it differs, but I suspect it's possible for Canadians to get some useful local information from it: https://www.tsunami.gov/
[+] dehrmann|7 months ago|reply
This also happened during the tsunami last year.

Does anyone know of a map app that works offline and can save overlays like this?

[+] haunter|7 months ago|reply
Whales have been washed ashore in Chiba https://x.com/AZ_Intel_/status/1950395615944511821
[+] sunaookami|7 months ago|reply
Community Notes says:

>Important Context: In the Japanese audio, a TV announcer says they don't know if this incident is related to the earthquake/tsunami: "We have no information indicating a connection with the recent tsunami".

>Also, stranded whales in Tateyama have been observed since yesterday

[+] Dazzler5648|7 months ago|reply
I was parked at Selzer beach in Seaside, Oregon when the earthquake/tsunami news hit around 7:30pm. Within 30 minutes it was impossible to buy gas without queueing and now there is a pretty steady stream of cars heading out of town. As of 9pm it’s been upgraded to a warning up and down the coast. I was just thinking of tsunamis the two days ago in the Del Rey beach parking lot, where I noticed the locals seemed to park at the exit end of the lot, facing out. I moved my car to match because that just makes sense.
[+] ranguna|7 months ago|reply
Reading the news, it seems there was no significant impact in the neighbouring societies, except the death of sea life (whales in Chiba), is that right?
[+] KeplerBoy|7 months ago|reply
I wonder how they died.

I'd expect they are safe from a bit of shaking. Are there shock waves involved?