15 Minutes Pass Before ‘No-Tsunami Crawl' Appears on TV after Thanksgiving Earthquake

This morning’s earthquake hit the Big Island in approximately the same place as the two big October 15th quakes. The USGS has pegged it at 5.0, a “moderate” jolt that occurred about an hour ago at 9:20 a.m.

According to the Honolulu Advertiser’s first online report posted at 9:42, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a message three minutes after the quake, giving it a 4.5 magnitude. Here’s a later Advertiser report.

Either at that time or shortly thereafter, the Center passed the word that no tsunami was expected. Although exact times aren’t immediately known, it’s safe to assume that the no-tsunami message went out around 9:30 or even sooner.

According to KGMB-TV, its audio of the station's coverage of an NFL game was interrupted at 9:35 and a “crawl” moved across the top of the screen about the earthquake and telling the audience that no tsunami was expected. (10/25 Update: KGMB's assertion that it broadcast the EAS message at 9:35 was later shown to be erroneous in this post.)

Continuing the questions posted here at CHORE two days ago, it’s legitimate to ask why it still took 15 minutes after the quake for Emergency Alert System authorities to issue a no-tsunami message to the public -- or at least to the public watching channel 9?

On October 15th, the Warning Center knew within five minutes that no tsunami had been generated. If a tsunami had been triggered today, could authorities have issued a warning quicker than 15 minutes? Would emergency sirens been sounded before then?

The 15-Minute Window

We’ve always been told that a tsunami generated around the Big Island would sweep across the island chain at jetliner speed and arrive within 15 to 30 minutes depending on the island.

With that being the critical piece of information, why can’t any kind of tsunami message – a warning or a no-tsunami alert – be disseminated over TV and radio inside of 15 minutes after a significant earthquake on or near the Big Island?

Add the Thanksgiving Earthquake to the other topics to be discussed at State Civil Defense’s public meeting, which has not yet been scheduled.