Latest Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Stories

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A major earthquake measuring 7.3 in magnitude shook parts of Papua New Guinea on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage and a tsunami was unlikely, officials said. The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 0735 GMT, was off the east coast of New Britain, about 130 km (81 miles) east-southeast of Rabaul, the Hong Kong Observatory said. "No damage has been reported at this point in time to the U.S. Geological Survey," U.S. Geological Survey spokeswoman...

PERTH -- Indian Ocean nations agreed on Friday to share real-time seismic data, despite some security sensitivities, and to set up seven regional tsunami warning centers instead of one.The agreements were announced at the end of the inaugural meeting of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the western Australian city of Perth.India has dropped its initial reluctance to sharing real-time seismic data, said Harsh Gupta, who heads...

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan on Thursday launched a stop-gap plan for alerting Indian Ocean nations of impending tsunami: it will send them a fax within half an hour, an official said. After the Dec. 26 Asian tsunami, Japan and the United States - the world's most advanced in tsunami warnings - have said they will monitor earthquakes and tsunami in the Indian Ocean and notify countries until a new regional network is up and running. Using data from its seismographs and buoys in the Indian Ocean,...

EWA BEACH, Hawaii (AP) -- Tsunami experts could not understand why Monday's forceful earthquake off Indonesia failed to produce massive waves similar to those generated by the Dec. 26 quake that killed at least 175,000 people in the same region. A magnitude 8.7 quake shook Indonesia's west coast, killing hundreds of people and spreading panic that another devastating tsunami was on the way. There was no tsunami, but a small wave was detected by a tide gauge on Cocos Island near Australia,...

KOBE, Japan (AP) -- Hawaii is among the most tsunami-ready places in the world. When an alert is issued, beachside sirens go off and urgent messages are flashed on television and broadcast on radio. Evacuation maps on telephone book covers point people to higher ground. But most of the time, no damaging tsunami hits the shore. The Pacific Ocean early warning system's high false alarm rate - estimated at 75 percent - is getting more attention these days as experts and nations work to extend...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While the deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean has focused attention on that part of the world, great waves also pose a threat to the United States. A tsunami struck the Virgin Islands in 1867 claiming 23 lives, and geologic evidence shows giant waves have struck several times over the last 3,500 years, affecting what is now Washington, Oregon and northern California. "We're not trying to scare you, we're just trying to inform you," Kevin Krajicik said Tuesday,...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Scientists predict killer tsunamis could strike the Caribbean, which lacks a warning system even though its seabed is gouged by some of the world's deepest trenches, where the giant waves can be generated by tectonic activity, and its low-lying islands are heavily populated along their coastlines. The last tsunami struck the Caribbean in 1946, before island populations skyrocketed, major construction dotted shorelines and the region developed into a prized...

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Until two weeks ago, Smith Thammasaroj was a prophet without honor. As chief of Thailand's meteorological department in 1998, he was accused of scare-mongering when he warned that the country's southwest coast could face a deadly tsunami. He retired under a shadow, dismissed as a crackpot, accused of causing panic and jeopardizing a critical tourist industry that grew up around the tropical resort island of Phuket. Today, Smith is being lionized for his foresight...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States is moving on several fronts toward a global tsunami warning system following the Asian catastrophe. A design is emerging from the State Department's Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN) for protecting huge populations in coastal areas, and will be presented to the United Nations-sponsored World Conference on Disaster Reduction this month in Kobe, Japan. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., is proposing legislation to have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

EWA BEACH, Hawaii (AP) -- For scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the world's most powerful earthquake happened below the wrong ocean. They sat by helplessly when an 9.0-magntiude quake underneath the Indian Ocean last week touched off a series of tsunamis that killed more than 139,000 people in southern Asia and Africa. There were no instruments, such as tide gauges that measure sea levels, set up there to let them know what waves were on the way. With the instruments, the...