Tsunami warning issued for Lord Howe Island after earthquake near New Caledonia
No evacuations are currently required at Lord Howe Island and no impact is expected for the Australian mainland (Photo: Mridula Amin)
A tsunami marine warning has been issued for Lord Howe Island, after a magnitude-7.6 earthquake near New Caledonia overnight.
A tsunami marine warning means there is the possibility for dangerous rips, waves and strong ocean currents and some localised impact on immediate foreshores.
People on Lord Howe Island have been advised to stay away from the island's beach and the immediate water's edge.
No evacuations are required at Lord Howe Island and no impact is expected for the Australian mainland.
Some tsunami waves of under 40 centimetres have been observed at Norfolk Island, Port Villa and Fiji.
The earthquake occurred just after midnight on Wednesday in an area south-east of the Loyalty Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
© Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Comments
More reading on tsunamis we've published over the years (apologies TBB):
(2012) Tsunami: Approaching the Speed of Sound
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2012/04/12/tsunami-appro...
(2014) Tsunami '77
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2014/09/24/tsunami-77
(2015) Tsunamis: In preparation for the big one
https://www.swellnet.com/news/surfpolitik/2015/12/22/tsunamis-preparatio...
(2015) Behind Australia's tsunami detection buoys
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-analysis/2015/11/05/behind-austra...
(2016) A new way to detect tsunamis: cargo ships
https://www.swellnet.com/news/surfpolitik/2016/04/04/new-way-detect-tsun...
(2016) Felipe Pomar: On winning world titles, riding tsunami, and surfing until 100
https://www.swellnet.com/news/talking-heads/2016/03/31/felipe-pomar-winn...
(2018) What would happen if a tsunami hit Sydney?
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-analysis/2018/10/16/what-would-ha...
(2019) Watch: The O'Riginals // G'Land Tsunami
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2019/11/26/watch-the-ori...
(2019) Queensland tsunami modelling shows how coastal communities will be impacted
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2019/07/28/queensland-ts...
Haven’t seen a thorough analysis from tbb in the comments for a while - hope all is well. Good luck to those on Lord Howe.
It's been picked up on the MHL tide gauges. https://mhl.nsw.gov.au/Station-201472
Well spotted!
Checked the harbour for signs, not much to see except it's a cracker morning!
Nice one Craig. How's the water clarity in the harbour at the moment!!! Had a dip at Manly on Tuesday and it was awesome. Looks like Fairlight same. Enjoy
How's the serenity.
Yeah and smack bang in the middle of Sydney! Special.
Interesting - according to the BOM, 35cm tsunami waves were recorded along the Gold Coast this morning (with smaller tsunami waves recorded elsewhere along the NSW coast), but this is below the marine warning threshold of 40cm.
For the record, I'm somewhat perplexed that the BOM didn't issue any kind of notice for mainland Australia. Even small tsunami waves (35cm) will create noticeable disturbances/currents/rips in the nearshore region, some of which could be dangerous for swimmers, surfers and beachgoers.
I'll say that there was just a bit of a funny vibe in the air this morning despite the fact that it was an absolute cracker of a start (Goldy based, myself). Just had an eeriness about it. Dunno if anyone else picked up on that or if I really was canine in a past life...?
Woof!
Seriously though, I know what you mean - my daily scope along the Tweed felt a little weird too, and there seemed to be a disprortionate amount of water moving through a couple of creeks. And that was before I got the tide gauge data above too (so, I wasn't aware that it'd been detected on the mainland).
Tweed Sand Bypass Jetty and Gold Coast Seaway tide gauges showing the tsunami well.
And the depth = 10.0km
Eh? A bunch at 10km, and other depths in the same region too - 33km, 83km, 44km, 34km, 37km, 61km, 53km, 74km, 38km, and so on.
Not every facet of life requires conspirital thinking.
Agree. But some facets require critical thinking.
tbb is humbled by Tsunami sized Timeline...Salute Ben #1 swellnet
Ben shall be awarded the honorary Norfolk Island Tsunami escape Pod.
"Being made to Listen to State of Origin on the car radio made Bill fall asleep"
No! No! No! not Raspy Bill's version...
Sorry 'bout that, as [f] banned the more ferocious sounding title.
{The lightning lashed '09 Tsunami Evacuation of Lord Howe Island lagoon foreshore}
As told by the raspy husk of Bill's Norfolk Island '09 Tsunami escape Pod.
https://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2628100.htm
Lord Howe acting CEO : "The evacuation ran smoothly!"
Last word from raspy Bill : "Bit Haphazard I thought!"
PS:
Bill was knighted for twiddling his car radio waves that fine tuned the Oz Tsunami.
TBB, good to see you back. Have been missing delving down rabbit holes when you post.
The collated posts of TBB would be quite an important historical document.
Anyone catch the 35cm monster?
We would take it on the mid atm.
No jokes.
The waves in Vicco were about 10cm today so a 35cm tsunami would be the best waves we have had for a while at least it might of has a bit of push
excellent !
Saw it happen up exmouth that boxing day
Might not make the news down there but about 15 mins ago we just had a really big earthquake, stuff falling off shelves etc. A couple of decent aftershocks as well.
7.1 Magnitude according to JMA, off the coast of Fukushima @ 60 km deep- so a real shaker here in Ibaraki.
Anyway, just chucked this us as a matter of interest.
Oh wow, that is solid, any tsunami action?
Also that'd be catastrophic in the mountains eh, setting off all kind of avalanches and land slides?
Morning, nope no tsunami and I reckon you'd be correct regards the mountains.
Walked around the house this morning straightening things up, putting stuff back on shelves.
We're used to quakes but when the big ones ramp up it's like, woah is this gonna go next level like 2011. But last night peaked then dropped off pretty quickly. Still, pretty scary though.
Glad you're all good there Zen
Second that.
Cheers guys.
Reports of 100 people injured, no deaths, fair bit of damage and about 50 metres of expressway to north torn away with a landslide, so that will be closed for a week or so. JMA calling it the biggest since April 2011.
https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=BWT4_1613233261
Was in Apia Samoa when they had a Tsunami drill for Upolu. The loudspeakers sirens blared & locals advised everyone go uphill eg. up to the hospital area.
There was no mobile reception on the southcoast of Upolu ...where the Tsunami hit hard (20-40ft) in 2009 . The local church is still on the hill; nothing was left standing at sealevel except trees & coconut palms.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/The_remains_of_Lalom...
I now understand the old indo's fear of the sea.