Tsunami Strikes American Samoa After 8.3-Magnitude Quake
A tsunami swept into Pago Pago, American Samoa, shortly after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.3 erupted in the area. There were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage Tuesday.
Fili Sagapolutele, who works at the Samoa News, says the water flowed inland about 100 yards before receding, leaving some cars stuck in the mud.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu issued a tsunami warning for American Samoa and other areas of the Pacific, including New Zealand. A tsunami watch was posted for other areas, including Hawaii and the Marshall Islands.
There are reports that some beaches in Hawaii are being closed as a precaution. Police are at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to offer protection and assistance in the event that a large wave forms.
American Samoa, a group of islands, is a U.S. territory located in the South Pacific, about 2,300 miles south of Hawaii. American Samoa is slightly larger than Washington, D.C., with a population of 65,628. The population of Pago Pago is approximately 11,000.
Magnitude-4.1 Quake Shakes Already-shaken L.A.
Los Angeles has been shaken by another moderate earthquake, a few miles from the epicenter of Sunday’s shaker. No immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey says it’s not certain whether it’s an aftershock from Sunday’s magnitude-4.7 temblor or a separate quake.
The magnitude-4.1 quake was centered about 2 miles from Hawthorne and 10 miles from downtown L.A., at a depth of 7.5 miles.
5.0 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Los Angeles
The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 5.0 quake has hit the Los Angeles area.
The quake was centered 1 mile southwest of Los Angeles, near LAX airport and was 8.4 miles deep. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury.
6.3 Earthquake Off Mexico Coast
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck near the western coast of Mexico at 7:33 p.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. A tsunami warning was issued for coastal areas within 100 kilometers 60 miles.
The earthquake hit 255 kilometers southwest of the city of Colima at a depth of 42 kilometers, the USGS said. The epicenter was 690 kilometers west-southwest of Mexico City.
“Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100 kilometers,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. “No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists.”
The center put the magnitude of the quake at 6.5. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Mexico lies in a zone where the North American, Cocos and Caribbean plates meet. These tectonic plates constantly shift, sometimes causing earthquakes which occasionally produce tsunamis. Earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more can cause considerable damage depending on their depth.
A magnitude 8 quake in September 1985 killed at least 9,500 people in Mexico and destroyed more than 4,000 buildings in Mexico City, according to the USGS Web site. Some reports put the death toll at 35,000, the USGS said.
Prediction of 9.0 NW Earthquake Now Echoed by U.S. Scientists
Recent findings by scientific experts echo a prediction, from 2005, of a mammoth earthquake that will be centered in the Pacific Northwest. The prediction by Billy Meier, a 71-year old Swiss man with a remarkable, 58-year record of specific, accurate predictions, and the report from 2008 by Oregon State University scientists (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080826124413.htm) agree on the likelihood of an enormous natural disaster occurring. However, Meier’s warning also specifically mentioned a gigantic tsunami that would produce unimaginably devastating consequences for residents of the Pacific coast.
On June 25, 2005, over three years before the OSU report was issued, Meier published the following warning, “According to our preview there will be a seaquake of 9 points on the Richter Scale in the region of the North Pacific not far from the American coast, from Portland to the south of California up to Washington in the north. As a result there will be a gigantic fault of several hundred kilometers, when as never before, a seaquake-tsunami will spread in a ring form and produce immense devastation on the main land and on the islands, which will cost many human lives. The seaquake will last for about five minutes, to be followed by additional and less forceful quakes, which will trigger another but less severe tsunami. Some facts about this threatening danger are known to terrestrial scientists, but they are not capable of realizing the really/factually developing catastrophe.”
OSU scientists don’t foresee a tsunami and have a lower estimate of the magnitude of the quake than Meier. Neither they, nor Meier gave a specific date for the predicted events. Even with advance warning and monitoring of natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes, the resulting damage and loss of life can be massive. But since the exact time, location and magnitude of earthquakes and tsunamis is rarely, if ever, precisely predicted, the resulting losses in life and property are often far more catastrophic.
It is incumbent upon all pertinent government agencies and officials in the designated areas to immediately create evacuation plans and to warn the population in the areas most at risk of the possibility of a tsunami, so that they can make their own escape plans for their families and themselves.
