Latest news with #NEMA
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Live: Tsunami wave surge warnings remain in place, likely to stay in place overnight, for redcued areas
Emergency authorities say a tsunami threat to New Zealand from the giant quake off Russia's Kamchatka peninsula is likely to remain in force overnight for the east coast of both the North and South Islands and the Chatham Islands. NEMA in its latest update says tsunami activity has already reached parts of New Zealand. It said this was due to rebounding tsunami activity from South America. It says the threat must be regarded as real until the tsunami alert is cancelled. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Climate
- Scoop
Magnitude 8.8 Quake East Of Russia
An estimated magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's eastern coast has resulted in tsunami warnings across much of the Pacific. New Zealand's coasts may experience 'strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges' and NEMA has advised staying off beaches and shore areas. The Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, with a population of 180,000 people, is close to the earthquake epicentre. The SMC asked experts to comment. 'Today's earthquake that occurred just off the Kamchatka peninsula is a large magnitude event (M8.8), and occurred on a subduction zone where the Pacific Plate is diving down under the Okhotsk Plate – and because it was offshore, it generated a tsunami. 'According to the USGS, the area has a relatively small population, so damage or injuries to local people and property isn't expected to be too large. The US Pacific Northwest and Alaskan coasts are under a Tsunami Advisory, with waves of less than 1 ft expected in some northern areas, with Crescent City (a promontory on the Oregon Coast) having the largest predicted waves of up to 4.8 ft (USGS). 'At last count, there have already been 10 aftershocks above magnitude 5, the largest at M6.9. This demonstrates that large magnitude earthquakes generate aftershock sequences that start immediately, and some of these can be damaging in their own right. From the perspective of local people, their experience of this earthquake is going to be compounded in the coming weeks, months and years by on-going aftershock activity, which can have a significant psycho-social affect. 'Aotearoa lies just over 9,600 km from the epicentre, with nothing but the Pacific Ocean between us. New Zealand is no stranger to the effects of distant tsunami events, for example our experience of the 1960 M9.6 Chilean earthquake. Waves of up to 5.5 m in some coastal locations took 10-12 hours to cross the Pacific Ocean to reach our shores. The NEMA mobile phone alert that came out this afternoon urged people not to go tsunami sight-seeing at the coast. Let's take heed of this warning, and show that we have learnt something about tsunami risk by keeping clear of any waves or strong currents on our beaches, inlets and other coastal locations.' No conflicts of interest. Dr Jennifer Eccles, Senior Lecturer, School of Environment, University of Auckland, comments: 'The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that has struck in far Eastern Russia off the low population density Kamchatka Peninsula is sourced from the Kuril-Kamchatka arc subduction system, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath the North American Plate (yes, Eastern Russia is on the North American tectonic plate). 'This has resulted in very strong shaking locally and also caused the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre to issue potential threat warning to eastern Russia, Western North America and Japan with nearby coastlines feeling any impact first. Tsunami waves travel at speeds comparable to commercial aircraft will take some time to cross the Pacific Ocean with any impacts to New Zealand waters expected from midnight. By that time observations from coastlines impacted and marine DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) Buoys will allow a very good estimate of any potential coastal threat. Please see NEMA (The National Emergency Management Agency) for current advisories.' Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared. Dr Lauren Vinnell, Senior Lecturer of Emergency Management, Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University, comments: 'Tsunami are a serious hazard, and they don't have to be very big to pose a threat. Anyone on the water or near the shore should take this warning seriously, as the expected currents and surges could be big enough to cause damage, injury, and threat to life. It is always better to be safe than sorry – if you act now to keep yourself safe and end up being fine, you can consider it as good practice for next time. 'For most of us, today's event can serve as a gentle reminder that we do need to think about tsunami and know how to respond. Sometimes, like today, there will be time to give warnings, but this won't always be the case if the tsunami starts closer to our shores. Remember, long or strong get gone – drop, cover, and hold during the shaking, and then if the shaking was longer than a minute or strong enough that it would be hard to stand, evacuate immediately uphill or inland. If in doubt, it is always best to evacuate. If today's event has you nervous, the best thing you can do is check your tsunami hazard zones, make sure you'd be ready to leave home quickly, and plan where you would evacuate to.' No conflicts of interest. Professor John Townend, earthquake scientist and Professor of Geophysics at Victoria University of Wellington, comments: 'Today's magnitude 8.8 earthquake near Kamchatka is the largest earthquake to have occurred worldwide since the magnitude ~9.1 Tohoku earthquake in 2011. 'Today's earthquake occurred in the subduction zone beneath the Kamchatka Peninsula, where the Pacific plate is moving WNW at approximately 75 mm/yr and being forced beneath the the Okhotsk plate that forms eastern Siberia and the Kamchatka Peninsula and in some studies is considered part of the North American plate. 'Given the earthquake's size and location, and preliminary seismological observations, it is likely to have involved slip of 10+ m over an area of ~150 x 400 km, although further analysis over the next 12-24 hours will be required to confirm this. Today's earthquake was preceded on 20 July by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, now recognised as a foreshock. 'The depth, size, and faulting characteristics of today's earthquake combined to generate a tsunami that has already affected nearby coastlines and Japan and will have ongoing effects across the Pacific in coming hours. Today's earthquake released approximately 30x more energy than the 2016 magnitude 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake and approximately 3x less energy than the magnitude 9.1 Tohoku earthquake.' No conflicts of interest. Our colleagues at the UK Science Media Centre have also gathered comments on the earthquake and tsunami, climate change induced sea levels rises and potential impact on tsunami, and reports that the Fukushima nuclear site was evacuated due to the tsunami.
Otago Daily Times
4 hours ago
- Climate
- Otago Daily Times
'Strong and unusual' tsunami threat extended
Emergency authorities have extended a tsunami activity threat until 3pm today following yesterday's giant earthquake near Russia. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's remote east coast on Wednesday, triggering tsunami waves on multiple countries' shores. The quake is tied for the sixth-strongest ever recorded, and the strongest since 2011, when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit northeast Japan, triggering a devastating tsunami. Tsunami currents reached parts of New Zealand overnight and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) warned the first surges were unlikely to be the largest. NEMA had said the threat warning would be in place until midday, but in an update about 12.20pm they said it had been extended to 3pm. "New Zealand remains under a national strong and unusual current threat. "This threat level is expected to remain until at least 3pm today. From 3pm, it is possible the threat level will decrease across the west coasts of both the North and South Islands." NEMA earlier said the threat must be regarded as real until the tsunami alert was cancelled. NEMA's director Civil Defence Emergency Management John Price told Morning Report the risk was still very high for people thinking of going near the water today. "We take these matters extremely seriously ... we want them to stay away." The last thing NEMA wanted was to see anyone harmed. Evidence of tsunami activity had been seen in North Cape, Tauranga, Kaikōura, Castle Point, and Christchurch and the southern parts of the country. "This is still an active threat. It is still a threat to human life." That was the reason for sending texts to Kiwis to remind them to stay away from coastal areas. However, there had been a glitch with the alert system which resulted in some people receiving multiple texts, Price said. There have been two official alerts and NEMA would be trying to work out why some people had received more than that. Ninety percent of people entering a tsunami wave died, Price said. "You will see unusually high tidal surges, you'll see unusually high currents and the water level is unpredictable and it's the unpredictability of this that will potentially cause great danger to people." Various online webcams, dotted along the country's coasts and monitored by RNZ overnight, did not appear to reveal any damage - although daybreak could bring this to light. Boaties were advised not to remain on their vessels. Auckland Emergency Management opened four Civil Defence Centres for people lived aboard and who did not have friends or family to stay with. The centres would remain open until 8am Thursday. Auckland Emergency Management said two boaties spent the night at its Waikeke Island civil defence centre. The Marlborough Harbourmaster has this morning reinstated an order requiring all Cook Strait ferries travelling to Picton to use Marlborough Sound's Northern Entrance. The ban on the Tory Channel entrance was put in place at 10pm on Wednesday, affecting three sailings overnight and adding 40 minutes to the journey. It was due to be lifted at 6am today, but an Interislander spokesperson says it will now be reassessed after midday. A further three sailings are affected.
1News
4 hours ago
- Climate
- 1News
Full video: Minister gives tsunami threat update
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell is speaking as the threat of coastal surges for New Zealand's coastline continues. He earlier apologised for the early morning wake up New Zealanders received due to the loud emergency alert to mobile phones. 'We're a coastal nation, and it was really important to notify people,' he said. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's far east yesterday, leading to warnings across the Pacific. NEMA said New Zealand could still expect "strong and unusual currents" and "unpredictable surges" at the shore until mid-afternoon.
Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
'100% we got it right': Minister on tsunami alerts
The Emergency Management Minister says efforts will be made to solve glitches with the country's tsunami warnings. It comes after tome people got multiple alerts overnight warning of strong and unusual currents after yesterday's big earthquake off Russia, while other say got they got none. What's going on with tsunami phone alerts? The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed there were problems. Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell said the national alert system, which hadn't been used in some time, had revealed "some shortcomings", which would be addressed. He said NEMA would be treating the glitches very seriously. He did not believe Kiwis would be "turned off" by the multiple texts. He said he didn't want to see people turn off their alerts and then possibly put emergency responders at risk. "There's nothing alarmist about it - it's quite simply the best information we have at the time." NEMA and the government would be criticised if people did not receive the latest information in a timely manner, Mitchell said. "The best way we can respond as a country to these events is a whole-of-society approach. "One hundred percent we got it right." The reality was that at 6.30am on any day there would be thousands of Kiwis at the beach and they needed to know about the tsunami risk, even if it meant waking up others, Mitchell says. "If we'd seen some drownings then everyone would be saying why weren't we notified, why didn't we know." He'd been advised multiple alerts can be sparked by people changing between mobile phone towers. He said NEMA was not being trigger-happy in sending out the two alerts over the last 24 hours. "We do not have the luxury in our country to operate with optimism because when you do that, people die." The Russian earthquake at 8.8 magnitude was one of the biggest seen in recent years and it was quickly signalled that tsunami activity was possible which could affect the entire coast of New Zealand. "It was important to let the country know the threat that we had and give them the information they needed to make decisions." It was "a glitch" that some people received up to six texts but NEMA would work with the telcos to find out what went wrong. "It's good that these issues have been highlighted so we can get to work and fix them," Mitchell told Midday Report. NEMA had an extremely important role and it needed to be "scanning the horizon" so it could alert people to any risk from natural disasters. It was very disappointing that many people ignored the warnings and still went to the beach putting themselves and first responders at potential risk. "So I've got a very low level of tolerance of that," Mitchell said.
