Read more here

...

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2010.02.27.104329.txt

Yes those poor souls --what a lot of dreadful things happening of late--heres hoping that we don't get the damage here--as well

The local press has a headline "Fears of [b]800km/h[/b] tsunami'.



If this speed is correct I wouldn't like to be on a little island in its path.

It apears to have had little effect on us here but as Tanwin said any small island in its path will or has had a big problem ..........The Japanese coastal peoples are being advised to head to higher ground

...

Australian officials have recorded the first effects of a wide-ranging tsunami generated by the Chile earthquake, reporting a rise in sea levels but no major waves.



Water levels rose by a few centimetres off Tasmania, with waves expected to increase in size over the next few hours.



Maria Island off the state's east coast has experienced a tidal increase of 10 centimetres.



Chris Ryan from the Australian Tsunami Warning Centre says while there will not be any impact inland from the tsunami, people should stay off the beach, due to possible dangerous localised flooding.



"For this level of threat, what we call a marine threat, we expect we'll see recordings of half to one metre above the normal tide height on our tide gauges somewhere in the warning zone," he said.

...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/28/2832258.htm

That is a very severe earthquake - there seems to be more of these recently than I can ever remember.



A 6.0 magnitude earthquake killed two people in Argentina just hours after a massive quake struck off Chile, leaving hundreds feared dead and setting off a tsunami.



Feb 27, 7.0 magnitude quake strikes off Japan

The quake that devastated the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince last month was also magnitude 7.0



Feb 23, A moderate 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit Guatemala.

That is scary.

This was quite scary to us.We didnt find out until this morning at about 8.30am, the radio told us to expect it to happen at 9.15am at Cooloongatta. We live on Bribie Island which is in Moreton bay, off from Caboolture in Qslnd.

Its very lowlying here, with only one bridge as an exit to the mainland.

We couldnt do anything but listen to the radio & the very good coverage from Sunrise on Channel 7 TV.

Luckily nothing happened, but raises the point if it had have eventuated,how would we have fared. It is now 3.15pm,to my knowledge noone on the Island has heard any warning except if they had the radio on. People are still swimming,& picnicing. Maybe we will get too settled in our attitudes & ignore the next time.

We certainly wont !! :gulp:

You have to wonder at the TV coverage of those who flocked to the beach to see it?



Guess who would be the first ones complaining if it had been a whopper tidal wave?



No wonder we have so many laws to protect people against themselves, but you cant govern against stupidity.

The circumstances of an undersea earthquake have to be just right to cause a tsunami. Some quite powerful quakes have hardly raised a ripple, while lesser quakes have sent out powerful tsunami's. I believe the problem is that warnings are given on every undersea quake but many (or most) turn out to be false alarms.

People now see these warnings and dismiss them as there have been so many needless scares. The trouble is that if governments wait to see if there is going to be a wave, it will travel so fast that any warning will be too late........ a classic case of "damned if you do and damned if you dont".

I would rather know that not know even if it is a false alarm--I just feel so much for those poor souls that are caught up in these dreadful happenings

I agree, better to know & nothing happen,than the alternative !!

I agree, better to know & nothing happen,than the alternative !!