Tsunami Warning for Washington

BULLETIN
PUBLIC TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 10
NWS WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER AK
803 AM PST SAT FEB 27 2010

...A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE
COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA - OREGON - WASHINGTON - BRITISH
COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO
ATTU ALASKA...

A TSUNAMI ADVISORY MEANS THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR
THE WATER IS IMMINENT OR EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD
INUNDATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS UNDER AN ADVISORY.
CURRENTS MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO SWIMMERS... BOATS... AND COASTAL
STRUCTURES AND MAY CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER THE
INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL.

AT 1034 PM PACIFIC STANDARD TIME ON FEBRUARY 26 AN EARTHQUAKE WITH
PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE 8.8 OCCURRED
NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE.
THIS EARTHQUAKE HAS GENERATED A TSUNAMI WHICH COULD CAUSE DAMAGE
TO REGIONS IN A WARNING OR ADVISORY.
THE WAVES WILL FIRST REACH
LA JOLLA CALIFORNIA AT 002 PM PST ON FEBRUARY 27.
ESTIMATED TSUNAMI ARRIVAL TIMES AND MAPS ALONG WITH SAFETY RULES
AND OTHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON THE WEB SITE
WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV.

A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN OBSERVED AT THE FOLLOWING SITES

LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL
------------------------ ----- ------ ------- -----------
TALCAHUANO C 36.7S 73.1W 0657UTC 1.84M/6.1FT
SAN FELIX CH 26.3S 80.1W 0832UTC 0.81M/2.7FT
CALDERA CHIL 27.1S 70.8W 0746UTC 0.52M/1.7FT
COQUIMBO CHI 29.9S 71.3W 0902UTC 1.27M/4.2FT
IQUIQUE CHIL 20.2S 70.2W 0851UTC 0.30M/1.0FT
ANTOFAGASTA 23.3S 70.4W 0956UTC 0.46M/1.5FT
ANCUD CHILE 41.9S 74.3W 0943UTC 0.34M/1.1FT
CORRAL CHILE 39.9S 73.4W 1012UTC 1.54M/5.1FT
CALLAO LA PUN 12.1S 77.2W 1029UTC 0.66M/2.2FT
BALTRA ECUAD 0.4S 90.3W 1251UTC 0.35M/1.2FT
THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY FOR THE U.S. WEST COAST, BRITISH COLUMBIA,
AND ALASKA INDICATES THAT STRONG CURRENTS ARE EXPECTED AT THE
SHORELINE WITH POTENTIALLY SOME MINOR INUNDATION. PRELIMINARY
TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE FORECASTS AT SELECT POINTS ARE:
LA JOLLA, CA 0.7M/2.3 FT LOS ANGELES, CA 0.6M/2.0 FT
MAILBU, CA 0.8M/2.6 FT PT. SAN LUIS, CA 0.7M/2.3 FT
HALF MOON BAY, CA 0.8M/2.6 FT CRESCENT CITY, CA 0.5M/1.7 FT
PORT ORFORD, OR 0.2M/0.7 FT MORRO BAY, CA 0.7M/2.2 FT
SANTA MONICA, CA 1.0M/3.3 FT

TIME - TIME OF MEASUREMENT
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDES ARE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).

TSUNAMIS CAN BE DANGEROUS WAVES THAT ARE NOT SURVIVABLE. WAVE
HEIGHTS ARE AMPLIFIED BY IRREGULAR SHORELINE AND ARE DIFFICULT TO
FORECAST. TSUNAMIS OFTEN APPEAR AS A STRONG SURGE AND MAY BE
PRECEDED BY A RECEDING WATER LEVEL. MARINERS IN WATER DEEPER
THAN 600 FEET SHOULD NOT BE AFFECTED BY A TSUNAMI. WAVE HEIGHTS
WILL INCREASE RAPIDLY AS WATER SHALLOWS. TSUNAMIS ARE A SERIES OF
OCEAN WAVES WHICH CAN BE DANGEROUS FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER THE
INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL. DO NOT RETURN TO EVACUATED AREAS UNTIL AN
ALL CLEAR IS GIVEN BY LOCAL CIVIL AUTHORITIES.

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER IN EWA BEACH HAWAII WILL ISSUE
MESSAGES FOR HAWAII AND OTHER AREAS OF THE PACIFIC OUTSIDE
CALIFORNIA/ OREGON/ WASHINGTON/ BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA.

THIS MESSAGE WILL BE UPDATED IN 60 MINUTES OR SOONER IF
THE SITUATION WARRANTS. THE TSUNAMI MESSAGE WILL REMAIN
IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION STAY TUNED
TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO... YOUR LOCAL TV OR RADIO STATIONS... OR SEE
THE WEB SITE WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV.