Tsunami Warning Hawaii 2009 Samoa Devastated by Killer Tsunami

Tsunami warning Hawaii 2009 Samoa devastated by killer tsunami. Around hundred people have been killed in the worst ever earthquake and tsunami in Samoa islands and neighboring American Samoa islands.

The tiny Samoa islands were severely hit by powerful earthquake measuring as high as 8.0 on Richter scale.

The powerful tsunami in Samoa and American Samoa has also triggered panic in as far places as Hawaii and California.

Tsunamis are ocean waves produced by earthquakes or underwater landslides. The word is Japanese and means “harbor wave,” because of the devastating effects these waves have had on low-lying Japanese coastal communities.

Tsunamis are often incorrectly referred to as tidal waves, but a tsunami is actually a series of waves that can travel at speeds averaging 450 (and up to 600) miles per hour in the open ocean.

In the open ocean, tsunamis would not be felt by ships because the wavelength would be hundreds of miles long, with an amplitude of only a few feet. This would also make them unnoticeable from the air.

As the waves approach the coast, their speed decreases and their amplitude increases. Unusual wave heights have been known to be over 100 feet high. However, waves that are 10 to 20 feet high can be very destructive and cause many deaths or injuries.

From an initial tsunami generating source area, waves travel outward in all directions much like the ripples caused by throwing a rock into a pond. As these waves approach coastal areas, the time between successive wave crests varies from 5 to 90 minutes.

The first wave is usually not the largest in the series of waves, nor is it the most significant. Furthermore, one coastal community may experience no damaging waves while another, not that far away, may experience destructive deadly waves.

Depending on a number of factors, some low-lying areas could experience severe inland inundation of water and debris of more than 1,000 feet.

What is Tsunami Watch – An alert issued to areas outside the warned area. The area included in the watch is based on the magnitude of the earthquake. For earthquakes over magnitude 7.0, the watch area is 1 hour tsunami travel time outside the warning zone. For all earthquakes over magnitude 7.5, the watch area is 3 hours tsunami travel time outside the warning zone. The watch will either be upgraded to a warning in subsequent bulletins or will be cancelled depending on the severity of the tsunami.

Meanwhile there are reports that tsunami warning has been withdrawn from California. It was reported earlier that a tsunami warning had been issued in California following 8.0 strong earthquake in Samoa islands.