The National Weather service has  issued a Tsunami watch for Hawaii at 4:59pm  following a large earthquake East of the Kuril Islands, Russia.  The United States Geological Survey is reporting a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 for the quake.

Authorities are reviewing the data and threat level for Hawaii at this time.  If waves are generated, the earliest arrival estimates are at approximately 10:42pm Hawaii Standard Time.

We are following this live at KWXX and will keep you updated on air and online as more information becomes available.

 

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER   2

HIZ001>003-005>009-012>014-016>021-023>026-250539-

/O.CON.PHEB.TS.A.0001.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/

 

BULLETIN

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER   2

NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI

537 PM HST TUE MAR 24 2020

 

TO – EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

 

SUBJECT – TSUNAMI WATCH SUPPLEMENT

 

A TSUNAMI WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII.

 

NOTE – THE MAGNITUDE IS REVISED DOWNWARD TO A 7.5. WE ARE

WAITING FOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO FURTHER EVALUATE THE

POSSIBLE THREAT.

 

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

 

ORIGIN TIME – 0449 PM HST 24 MAR 2020

COORDINATES – 49.0 NORTH  157.7 EAST

LOCATION    – EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS

MAGNITUDE   – 7.5  MOMENT

 

EVALUATION

 

BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY

THIS EARTHQUAKE THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ON COASTAL AREAS EVEN

FAR FROM THE EPICENTER. AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE

IF THERE IS A TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

 

IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THE ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL OF

THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

 

1039 PM HST TUE 24 MAR 2020

 

FURTHER MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS

WARRANT UNTIL THE THREAT TO HAWAII HAS PASSED.