Pacific Earthquake Triggers Evacuations After Tsunami Threat
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 | 
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Posted by John under: Distress of Nations,Earthquakes
A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck off Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean, triggering a tsunami warning for nations including Australia and New Zealand and prompting authorities to evacuate people in some coastal areas to higher ground before the alert was lifted.
Earthquakes
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
—Mat 24:7
Distress of Nations
……â€the sea and the waves roaring;”
Luke 21:25b
The temblor hit at 9:03 a.m. local time today at a depth of 35 kilometers (22 miles), about 295 kilometers north-northwest of Vanuatu, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It earlier measured the quake at magnitude 8.1 and said at least three aftershocks hit the region.
The tsunami alert was canceled at 11:21 a.m. Sydney time, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, while advising that local authorities may continue to issue advisories.
The alert came nine days after a tsunami spawned by a magnitude-8.0 earthquake killed 137 people, injured 310 and left six still missing in Samoa, according to the United Nations.
On Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu today, tourists were advised to seek refuge on a hill about 100 meters above sea level, where visitors and locals gathered to await a possible tsunami wave.
“A few people are a bit concerned and trying to telephone their parents at home,†tourist Jarred Penley, 23, who was checking out of the Mango Bay resort when he was told to evacuate, said by mobile phone from the hill.
The warning covered countries including Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga and Australia. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Coast Line
New Zealand authorities said any wave was unlikely to be destructive along the country’s coast line.
A tsunami watch for Australia’s Queensland state was canceled after no threatening waves were observed, the country’s Bureau of Meteorology said.
Residents in Vanuatu, including the capital, Port Vila, raced to higher ground after the alert, Agence France-Presse reported. Authorities in New Caledonia evacuated schools and ordered people away from the coast, the news agency said.
Vanuatu is a group of 83 islands in the southwestern Pacific to the northeast of New Caledonia and northwest of Fiji. It has an international offshore financial center and is a tourist destination about 2 1/2 flying hours from Brisbane, Australia.
Vanuatu is in a zone where the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates meet. These tectonic plates constantly shift, sometimes causing earthquakes that can trigger tsunamis. Earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more can cause considerable damage, depending on their depth.
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Somemore Love says Comment posted on November 23rd, 2009
i believe this truly. because the bible is the only real history book, this is gods prophecy. we better take well notice of these warnings because time is almost up.