Latest news with #SebastienLecornu
Free Malaysia Today
30-07-2025
- Climate
- Free Malaysia Today
French Polynesia's Marquesas isles warned of 4m tsunami waves
The Marquesas Islands have a population of approximately 9,500. (AFP pic) PARIS : Authorities in French Polynesia warned the population of several of the Marquesas Islands to expect tsunami waves up to 4m high in the early hours of this morning after a huge quake off Russia's Far East. They said the waves would reach the islands of Ua Huka, Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa at 12.57am local time. Other islands in the Marquesas were expected to experience wave heights between 0.60m and 0.90m, the local government also said. The warnings follow a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. 'Our armed forces in French Polynesia are on alert as a precautionary measure, to be ready to assist our fellow citizens and state services in potential search and rescue operations or medical evacuations,' French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu said on the social media platform X. Residents were urged to move to higher ground and follow official instructions, including securing boats or moving them away from the shore. The Marquesas Islands, among the most remote in the world, have a population of approximately 9,500, according to a 2022 census. The population is predominantly of Polynesian descent, alongside French and other immigrant communities. The largest settlements are Taiohae on Nuku Hiva and Atuona on Hiva Oa. Other archipelagos in French Polynesia may be affected by waves less than 30cm high, which do not require evacuation or sheltering, local authorities said. French Polynesia covers 4,200sq km of the Pacific Ocean. Its five archipelagos comprise 118 islands.
Miami Herald
30-07-2025
- Climate
- Miami Herald
Volcano, tsunami warnings downgraded following 8.8-magnitude quake
July 30 (UPI) -- Several warnings were downgraded on Wednesday in various areas that faced the threat of tsunamis after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck near Russia late Tuesday. Tsunami warnings were downgraded to advisories in Japan except for northern Hokkaido island and the northern Tohoku region of Honshu main island on the Pacific Coast, said Japan's meteorological agency. Warnings were downgraded as well in New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines. Mexican officials said its tsunami alert was issued as a precaution. "In reality the alert was issued but it did not generate major risks," President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday, adding that "there is no damage in Mexico." The U.S. Geological Survey said the 8.8 magnitude tsunami-stirring earthquake was one of the world's most powerful since 1900. It came in sixth after Chile's 9.5 mag earthquake in 1960 near Bio-Bio. The highest waves so far to reach Japan were over 4 feet in Kuji in Iwatate prefecture to Japan's north, according the Japanese meteorological agency. Officials said tsunami activity was expected to continue in the morning with rapid tidal movements that may create dangerous conditions. Tsunami warnings are live in Chile, Columbia and Easter Island. However, the French Polynesian Marquesas Islands of Ua Huka, Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa were expecting tsunami waves up to 13 feet high as authorities warned the local population to move to higher ground and heed pubic instructions. "Our armed forces in French Polynesia are on alert as a precautionary measure, to be ready to assist our fellow citizens and state services in potential search and rescue operations or medical evacuations," France's Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on X early Wednesday morning. Kahului and the island of Maui in the Hawaiian island chain saw waves hit more than 5 feet high in some spots, and waves rose as high as 1 foot in Honolulu. But Hawaii is "past the worst part" of its statewide tsunami warning, according to Chip McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The state lowered to an advisory and, McCreery added, Hawaii is unlikely to "see any impacts bigger than we've already seen." Advisories, however, remained in effect for parts of the west coast, Hawaii and Alaska. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles region in southern California is no longer under a tsunami advisory, according to NOAA. Waves up to 3.6 feet were reported in Crescent City, Calif. and around 3-foot waves in Arena Cove. "It was a long night for all of us," Eric Weir, the city manager of Crescent City, told CNN. "We were fortunate this time," he added. "There was significant tsunami surges. We're still dealing with those now, but it did stay within the banks of Elk Creek." Advisories were canceled for some coast parts of California from the Mexico border to Rincon Point some 15 miles southeast of Santa Barbara. But they remained active from Rincon to the San Francisco Bay Area and in Oregon's southern coastal region bordering California. Experts say it was the strongest earthquake globally since 2011 and among the world'd top ten strongest ever detected. It's force caused Eurasia's highest active volcano to erupt on the highest mountain of western Russia's vast Siberia territory. The Klyuchevskoy volcano burst to a powerful glow and lava explosion going down the western slope, the Kamchatka Branch of Geophysical Survey posted on Telegram. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
30-07-2025
- Climate
- UPI
Volcano, tsunami warnings downgraded following 8.8-magnitude quake
A still image taken Wednesday shows a flooded area in Russia's Severo-Kurilsk, Sakhalin Region. Authorities in Russia's Sakhalin region declared a state of emergency, after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, triggering global tsunami warnings and evacuation orders. Photo By EPA/Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences July 30 (UPI) -- Several warnings were downgraded on Wednesday in various areas that faced the threat of tsunamis after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck near Russia late Tuesday. Tsunami warnings were downgraded to advisories in Japan except for northern Hokkaido island and the northern Tohoku region of Honshu main island on the Pacific Coast, said Japan's meteorological agency. Warnings were downgraded as well in New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines. Mexican officials said its tsunami alert was issued as a precaution. "In reality the alert was issued but it did not generate major risks," President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday, adding that "there is no damage in Mexico." The U.S. Geological Survey said the 8.8 magnitude tsunami-stirring earthquake was one of the world's most powerful since 1900. It came in sixth after Chile's 9.5 mag earthquake in 1960 near Bio-Bio. The highest waves so far to reach Japan were over 4 feet in Kuji in Iwatate prefecture to Japan's north, according the Japanese meteorological agency. Officials said tsunami activity was expected to continue in the morning with rapid tidal movements that may create dangerous conditions. Tsunami warnings are live in Chile, Columbia and Easter Island. However, the French Polynesian Marquesas Islands of Ua Huka, Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa were expecting tsunami waves up to 13 feet high as authorities warned the local population to move to higher ground and heed pubic instructions. "Our armed forces in French Polynesia are on alert as a precautionary measure, to be ready to assist our fellow citizens and state services in potential search and rescue operations or medical evacuations," France's Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on X early Wednesday morning. Kahului and the island of Maui in the Hawaiian island chain saw waves hit more than 5 feet high in some spots, and waves rose as high as 1 foot in Honolulu. But Hawaii is "past the worst part" of its statewide tsunami warning, according to Chip McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The state lowered to an advisory and, McCreery added, Hawaii is unlikely to "see any impacts bigger than we've already seen." Advisories, however, remained in effect for parts of the west coast, Hawaii and Alaska. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles region in southern California is no longer under a tsunami advisory, according to NOAA. Waves up to 3.6 feet were reported in Crescent City, Calif. and around 3-foot waves in Arena Cove. "It was a long night for all of us," Eric Weir, the city manager of Crescent City, told CNN. "We were fortunate this time," he added. "There was significant tsunami surges. We're still dealing with those now, but it did stay within the banks of Elk Creek." Advisories were canceled for some coast parts of California from the Mexico border to Rincon Point some 15 miles southeast of Santa Barbara. But they remained active from Rincon to the San Francisco Bay Area and in Oregon's southern coastal region bordering California. Experts say it was the strongest earthquake globally since 2011 and among the world'd top ten strongest ever detected. It's force caused Eurasia's highest active volcano to erupt on the highest mountain of western Russia's vast Siberia territory. The Klyuchevskoy volcano burst to a powerful glow and lava explosion going down the western slope, the Kamchatka Branch of Geophysical Survey posted on Telegram.
ABC News
30-07-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Chile and French Polynesia still under tsunami threat as other countries downgrade alerts after Russian earthquake
Some countries in the Pacific and South America remain on tsunami alert after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded, while many other countries downgraded their warnings after avoiding the worst. The 8.8-magnitude tremor off Russia's far east coast was the largest since 2011, when a magnitude 9.1 quake and subsequent tsunami struck off Japan, killing more than 15,000 people. A tsunami warning is in place for parts of French Polynesia, where Marquesas Islands locals were told to brace for waves as high as four metres in the early hours of Wednesday morning, local time. The High Commission of the Republic in French Polynesia said the waves were smaller than anticipated, but the highest waves were yet to reach the islands. It said the waves were now expected to reach between 1.1-2.5 metres. French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on X that the military was on stand-by to assist with potential emergency rescue efforts and medical evacuations. Chile also upgraded its tsunami warning to the highest level along the country's Pacific coastline, issuing pre-emptive evacuations of some areas, while Ecuador's Galapagos Islands ordered precautionary evacuations to safe zones due to the risk. A Russian geological monitoring service said that the the Klyuchevskoy volcano on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula began erupting after Wednesday's powerful earthquake in the Pacific. In a statement posted on Telegram, the Russian Academy of Sciences' United Geophysical Service said a hot lava flow had been observed on the volcano's western slope. It also noted explosions above the volcano. Klyuchevskoy is one of the highest volcanoes in the world at an elevation above sea level of almost 5,000 metres and has erupted several times in recent years. The earthquake caused a tsunami that flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, crashing through the port area and submerging the local fishing plant, officials said. Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people had been evacuated. Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none seriously. "The walls were shaking," a Kamchatka resident told state media Zvezda. "It's good that we packed a suitcase, there was one with water and clothes near the door. We quickly grabbed it and ran out… It was very scary," she said. Later Wednesday, the authorities in the Kamchatka peninsula announced the tsunami warning had been lifted. Authorities have warned that the risk of dangerous waves or swells could last for hours in some areas of the Pacific, despite the worst seemingly being avoided. New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency warned of strong and unusual currents in all coastal areas of the North Island, Great Barrier Island, the South Island, Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands. A number of other Pacific nations including Samoa and American Samoa had tsunami advisories in place on Wednesday night, local time. Those advisories warned of sea level fluctuations and strong currents that could be a hazard on beaches, in harbours and in coastal waters. The Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji cancelled their tsunami warnings late on Wednesday night. However, much of the West Coast, spanning California, Oregon, Washington state, and the Canadian province of British Columbia, remained under a tsunami advisory. Some two million people were initially told to evacuate to safety in Japan after the quake and many left by car or on foot to higher ground. People flocked to evacuation centres in affected areas of Japan, with memories fresh of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that caused reactor meltdowns at a nuclear power plant, but no operational abnormalities at Japan's nuclear plants were reported. One woman was killed as she drove her car off a cliff as she tried to escape, local media reported. A 1.3-metre high tsunami reached a port in the northern prefecture of Iwate, Japan's weather agency said. By Wednesday evening, the agency had downgraded its tsunami alerts, issued for much of the archipelago, to advisories. Officials from countries with a Pacific coastline in North and South America — including the United States, Mexico and Colombia — issued warnings to avoid threatened beaches and low-lying areas. In Hawaii, Governor Josh Green said flights in and out of the island of Maui had been cancelled as a precaution. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later downgraded the alert for Hawaii to an advisory and local authorities cancelled a coastal evacuation order. Wednesday's quake was the strongest in the Kamchatka region since 1952, the regional seismic monitoring service said, warning of aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude. The epicentre is in roughly the same location as a 9.0-magnitude quake that year that caused a Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the US Geological Survey. The organisation said Wednesday's was one of the 10 strongest earthquakes ever recorded. The tremor occurred on what is known as a "megathrust fault", where the denser Pacific Plate is sliding underneath the lighter North American Plate, scientists said. The Pacific Plate has been on the move, making the Kamchatka Peninsula area off Russia's Far East coast where it struck especially vulnerable to such tremors — and bigger aftershocks cannot be ruled out, they said. At least 10 aftershocks above magnitude 5 have already been recorded, and they could continue for months, warned Caroline Orchiston, director of the Centre for Sustainability at the University of Otago in New Zealand. "This demonstrates that large-magnitude earthquakes generate aftershock sequences that start immediately, and some of these can be damaging in their own right," she said. The 8.8 magnitude event on Wednesday came less than two weeks after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in the same area, which has now been identified as a "foreshock". ABC/wires
Business Times
30-07-2025
- Climate
- Business Times
Huge quake rocks Russia's Far East, triggering tsunami warnings around Pacific
[TOKYO / LOS ANGELES] Parts of French Polynesia were told to brace for waves as high as 4 metres on Wednesday (Jul 30), after a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern coast triggered tsunami warnings as far away as Hawaii, Japan and Chile. The shallow tremor off the Kamchatka Peninsula damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard – devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 – was ordered to evacuate, as were parts of Hawaii. By Wednesday evening, Japan and Hawaii had downgraded their tsunami warnings, but authorities in French Polynesia warned residents of several of the remote Marquesas Islands to move to higher ground, and follow official instructions. The waves were expected to hit some islands in the early morning hours. 'Our armed forces in French Polynesia are on alert as a precautionary measure, to be ready to assist our fellow citizens and state services in potential search and rescue operations or medical evacuations,' French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on the social media platform X. While the Marquesas are high-rising volcanic islands, much of French Polynesia consists of low-lying atolls. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Russian scientists said the quake in Kamchatka was the most powerful to hit the region since 1952. 'Today's earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors,' Kamchatka governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. 'It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least three minutes,' said Yaroslav, 25, in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. In Severo-Kurilsk in the northern Kuril Islands, south of Kamchatka, tsunami waves exceeded three metres, with the largest up to five metres, Russia's RIA news agency reported. Alexander Ovsyannikov, the town's mayor, urged residents to assess damage to their homes and not to use gas stove heating until inspections had been carried out. Tsunami waves partially flooded the port and a fish processing plant in the town, sweeping vessels from their moorings, regional officials and Russia's emergency ministry said. Verified drone footage showed the town's entire shoreline was submerged, with taller buildings and some storage facilities surrounded by water as it swept back out to sea. Hawaii recorded waves of up to 1.7 metres while in Japan the largest recorded came to 1.3 metres, officials said. Tsunami warnings and orders to head for higher ground in both places were later downgraded in most areas to advisories, with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center saying Hawaii no longer expected to see a major tsunami. Flights out of Honolulu airport resumed in the evening, the transportation department said. Waves of nearly half a metre were observed as far as California, with smaller ones reaching Canada's province of British Columbia. Warnings across the Pacific The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km, and centred 119 km east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000. Tsunami alarms had sounded in coastal towns across Japan's Pacific coast and evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of people. Workers evacuated the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster, operator TEPCO said. Broadcaster Asahi TV reported a 58-year-old woman died when her car fell off a cliff while she was evacuating in central Japan's Mie prefecture. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said no injuries or damage had been reported, and there were no irregularities at any nuclear plants. But hundreds of thousands of commuters in Tokyo and surrounding areas faced being stranded as they headed home, with operations on railway lines along the Pacific coast remaining halted. 'Ring of fire' Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services said on Telegram that a kindergarten was damaged, but most buildings withstood the quake. Several people in Kamchatka sought medical assistance following the quake, Oleg Melnikov, regional health minister, told Russia's TASS state news agency. Video footage from the region's health ministry showed a team of medics in the city of 165,000 residents performing surgery as the tremors shook their operating theatre. Kamchatka and Russia's Far East sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. 'However, due to certain characteristics of the epicentre, the shaking intensity was not as high ... as one might expect from such a magnitude,' said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Service, on Telegram. 'Aftershocks are currently ongoing ... Their intensity will remain fairly high. However, stronger tremors are not expected in the near future.' REUTERS
