ZCZC WECA40 PHEB 100258 TSUCAR TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 1 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 1058 PM AST TUE JAN 09 2018 ...A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT... AUDIENCE -------- * GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS... MEDIA... AND GENERAL PUBLIC OF PUERTO RICO... THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS... AND THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS. EVALUATION ---------- * AN EARTHQUAKE WITH A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 7.8 OCCURRED NORTH OF HONDURAS AT 1052 PM AST ON TUESDAY JANUARY 9 2018. * BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA... THERE IS A TSUNAMI THREAT TO PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF SEA LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS AND STRONG OCEAN CURRENTS THAT COULD BE A HAZARD ALONG COASTS... BEACHES... IN HARBORS... AND IN COASTAL WATERS. * THE EARLIEST ESTIMATED TIME THAT HAZARDOUS SEA LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS AND STRONG OCEAN CURRENTS MAY BEGIN IN PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS IS 124 AM AST ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10 2018 * ACTIONS TO PROTECT HUMAN LIFE... SAFETY AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY. * THE GENERATION OF TSUNAMI WAVES HAS NOT YET BEEN CONFIRMED. * MONITORING IS UNDERWAY TO FURTHER EVALUATE THE TSUNAMI THREAT. PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS --------------------------------- * THE FOLLOWING PARAMETERS ARE BASED ON A PRELIMINARY RAPID ASSESSMENT OF THE EARTHQUAKE AND CHANGES MAY OCCUR. * MAGNITUDE 7.8 * ORIGIN TIME 1052 PM AST JAN 09 2018 * COORDINATES 17.5 NORTH 83.6 WEST * DEPTH 20 MILES / 33 KM * LOCATION NORTH OF HONDURAS RECOMMENDED ACTIONS ------------------- * ACTIONS REQUIRED TO PROTECT HUMAN LIFE... SAFETY AND PROPERTY WILL VARY WITHIN THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY AREA. * PERSONS LOCATED IN OR NEAR THE OCEAN SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WATER... OFF THE BEACH AND AWAY FROM HARBORS... MARINAS... BAYS AND INLETS. * DO NOT GO TO THE SHORE TO OBSERVE THE TSUNAMI. * DO NOT RETURN TO EVACUATED AREAS UNTIL THE ALL CLEAR IS GIVEN BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. * BE ALERT TO AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS FROM LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS BECAUSE THEY MAY HAVE MORE DETAILED OR SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR YOUR LOCATION. * BOATERS - WHERE TIME AND CONDITIONS PERMIT... MOVE YOUR BOAT OUT TO SEA TO A DEPTH OF AT LEAST 450 FEET. * BOATERS - IF AT SEA... AVOID ENTERING SHALLOW WATER... HARBORS... MARINAS... BAYS AND INLETS TO AVOID FLOATING AND SUBMERGED DEBRIS AND STRONG CURRENTS. FORECASTS OF TSUNAMI ACTIVITY ----------------------------- * ESTIMATED TIMES OF ARRIVAL -ETA- OF THE INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARE GIVEN BELOW. * OBSERVED ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER FROM THESE ETAS AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. * FORECAST TSUNAMI HEIGHTS AND DURATIONS ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE. * A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE DURATION OF EACH WAVE CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR. COASTAL ETA FORECAST FORECAST TERRITORY LOCATION (AST) HEIGHT DURATION ------------------------------------------------------------- PUERTO RICO AGUADILLA 124 AM MONA ISLAND 126 AM ARECIBO 127 AM MAYAGUEZ 128 AM SAN JUAN 129 AM MAGUEYES IS 131 AM FAJARDO 131 AM PENUELAS 131 AM PONCE 133 AM CAJA DE MUERTOS 135 AM YABUCOA 144 AM VIEQUES IS 210 AM CULEBRA IS 228 AM USVI CHRISTIANSTED 150 AM LIMETREE 153 AM LAMESHUR BAY 237 AM CHARLOTTE AMALIE 240 AM BVI ANEGADA 157 AM VIRGIN GORDA 230 AM ROADTOWN 236 AM OBSERVATIONS OF TSUNAMI ACTIVITY -------------------------------- * NO OBSERVATIONS OF TSUNAMI ACTIVITY ARE AVAILABLE YET. IMPACTS ------- * IMPACTS WILL VARY AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS WITHIN PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS. * SEA LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS THAT ARE GENERALLY LESS THAN 3 FEET ABOVE AND BELOW THE TIDE LEVEL. * WAVES AND CURRENTS THAT CAN DROWN OR INJURE PEOPLE IN THE WATER. * WAVES AND CURRENTS ON BEACHES AND IN HARBORS... MARINAS... BAYS... AND INLETS THAT MAY BE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. * THE HAZARD IS FORECAST TO BEGIN AROUND 124 AM AST ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10 2018 AND IT CAN PERSIST FOR MANY HOURS OR LONGER. NEXT UPDATE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -------------------------------------- * THE NEXT MESSAGE WILL BE ISSUED IN THIRTY MINUTES... OR SOONER IF THE SITUATION WARRANTS. * FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THIS EVENT AND ANY TSUNAMI THREAT TO PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS MAY BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT WWW.TSUNAMI.GOV. * INFORMATION REGARDING ANY TSUNAMI THREAT TO US GULF OR ATLANTIC COASTS WILL BE ISSUED BY THE US NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER AND CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT WWW.TSUNAMI.GOV. * AUTHORITATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EARTHQUAKE CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE CORRESPONDING REGIONAL SEISMIC NETWORK OR THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ON THE INTERNET AT EARTHQUAKE.USGS.GOV/EARTHQUAKES -ALL LOWERCASE LETTERS-. $$ NNNN