Will the Tsunami Impact All Hawaiian Islands?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the potential impact of a tsunami generated by an earthquake on the Hawaiian Islands. Participants share personal experiences, updates on the tsunami warning, and technical details about the earthquake's characteristics and its implications for tsunami generation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant shares a tsunami warning issued for all Hawaiian Islands, urging urgent action to protect lives and property.
  • Another participant recounts their wife's experience in Hawaii during the tsunami warning, noting the confusion about the tsunami's potential impact.
  • Some participants suggest that the tsunami turned out to be relatively harmless, referencing news reports.
  • A technical explanation is provided regarding the earthquake's tectonic nature, indicating that it was caused by oblique-thrust faulting and discussing the mechanics of tsunami generation.
  • It is noted that the type of fault movement involved (strike-slip) typically does not trigger tsunamis due to the lack of vertical displacement of the sea floor.
  • Participants mention an ongoing swarm of earthquakes in the area, suggesting a potential for further seismic activity.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the tsunami's potential impact, with some indicating it was harmless while others highlight the initial urgency of the warning. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the broader implications of the earthquake and tsunami dynamics.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the uncertainty surrounding the tsunami's actual impact and the dependence on the specific tectonic conditions of the earthquake. The discussion also reflects varying interpretations of the tsunami warning's significance.

Andre
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My wife is actually in Hawaii right now on business.

They were on a bus tour when the warning was issued and she called me around 9:30 HST (2:30 AM Central where I am). The tour bus took them to high ground where they had to stay. It wasn't until about 3.5 hours later that she told me she was back at the hotel.

I had seen the news of the earthquake hours earlier, but at the time they were saying no Tsunami warning was going to be issued.
 
The earthquake was under an island, and not close to the fault.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000df7n#summary

USGS said:
Tectonic Summary
The October 28th, 2012 (October 27 at the location of the epicenter) M 7.7 earthquake south of Masset, Canada, occurred as a result of oblique-thrust faulting near the plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates. At the location of this event, the Pacific plate moves approximately north-northwest with respect to the North America plate at a rate of approximately 50 mm/yr.

This earthquake is likely associated with relative motion across the Queen Charlotte fault system offshore of British Columbia, Canada. Studies of tectonics in this region suggest plate motions are taken up by strike slip faulting parallel to the plate boundary, accompanied by lesser amounts of thrust motion to accommodate the oblique nature of the plate motion vector between the two plates with respect to the orientation of the main plate boundary fault structure. . . . .

Ward said he wasn't surprised the tsunami warning was short-lived because the strike-slip movement along the fault doesn't generally trigger tsunamis.

"To trigger a tsunami you need to have a vertical movement of the sea floor, and it's that vertical movement that displaces water and triggers the tsunami," he said. "Because it's sliding across each other, you're not generally moving the water."

There was a relatively shallow 6.3 mag offshore
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000dg06#summary

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/10/28/bc-quake.html

There seems to be an ongoing swarm in the area.
 
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